Distractions
by Laura x Tennant
Summary: Another little story following the WONDERFUL love story of the Doctor and Rose. I hope you take a look and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Distractions**

**Chapter 1**

"I can't believe you hit him. You must have inherited that ability to slap _very _hard from your mother. I almost feel sorry for the poor bloke; I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a Tyler slap!" exclaims the Doctor.

"Yeah, well, he shouldn't have called me a 'silly little human' then should he? You're the only one I can forgive for saying that," Rose says, and smiles cheekily at him.

The Doctor laughs.

"My god, I lo-" he begins to say.

He stops still.

Woah. He almost said it then. Without even thinking. He'd have to be more careful. This keeps happening.

Once upon a time, before Rose, he never had cause to say it. Then, after he met her, but when he was a different man, he never said it, because he tried to stop his feelings. Hid from them. Was scared of them. He thought that saying...it...would make things real; and then he'd lose her.

He used to be an idiot.

Then, after he regenerated, he was the same but different. Same thoughts, same feelings...but he was happier, funnier, _sexier_. Initially, he had still hidden from the feelings. But then he admitted it all to himself, and it wasn't so scary anymore.

But he is still an idiot.

Because, for all he has changed, for all he can tell himself that he loves her, he still hasn't told _her._ He doesn't think he needs to. What does it mean, anyway? They are just words. Plain old English words that could never reflect the true extent of his feelings. And anyway, she already knows, so what's the point?

The thing is, he has this niggling feeling that perhaps she needs to hear it. Which is why this keeps happening; he almost does let her hear it. Because it feels right. It feels...human.

Ah.

Maybe it wouldn't be such an insignificant thing to say, after all. Humans like to be told they are loved, even if they already know. He can say it now, he knows that. She means the universe to him, and he should tell her so. Now.

He turns around. And then he turns around in the other direction. Rose is gone. Hmmm. She must have sneaked away while he was all lost in thought.

Perhaps he should go and find her and tell her right now.

Suddenly, he feels two arms sneak around his waist from behind, and her chin rest on his shoulder.

He bottles it. Coward, every time.

But then again, what if he doesn't tell her? He thinks. She knows. She knows. It doesn't need saying.

"Where did you go?"

"Just nipped to the loo."

"Nice."

"You didn't notice I'd gone did you?"

He turns around and her arms tighten around his waist. He smiles at her sheepishly. "If I'm honest...no. Sorry."

"Lost in your own little world were you? Dreaming of the stars," she giggles lightly, drawing an inconsequential pattern on his chest with her fingers.

"Actually, I was thinking about you."

"Oh. Well, that's sweet."

"Indeed. I'm a very sweet person."

Rose snorts at this. "Of course you are. My Doctor: Oncoming Storm, but really quite sweet underneath all that _scary_ exterior."

He knows she's mocking him, but he plays along. "Yep! Hmmm. 'My Doctor' – I like it. You've gone all possessive."

"I've always been possessive. You just never noticed before. Oh, the times I've been _green _with envy," she says dramatically, earning a raised eyebrow and a chuckle from the Doctor. She laughs with him, "Of course, you've been known to get a bit jealous yourself..."

He sighs, "I've told you before and I'll tell you again: Time Lords don't get jealous."

"Sure...but you can't deny it; even before we...well, you know..._you_ were the possessive one_. _Even back when you were a different man..."

"Ah yes. But you were one for the pretty boys back then. Adam. _Jack_. Mickey_._.." he shudders.

"Firstly, what? Adam? That was just a thank you trip. No way did I want him to come with us all the time, nor did like him like that. Secondly, nothing happened with Jack..." she briefly looks a little dreamy, but a sharp look and an "Oi!" from the Doctor bring her back. Oops. "Sorry. But Mickey – well, he _was _my boyfriend, before you stole me away," she winks at him, "Anyway, you're one to talk."

"What?"

"Ok. Jabe. Lynda. Sarah Jane. Cleopatra. _Reinette..."_ Rose counters.

"What? No, no, no, no. Nothing untoward there," he says, and she raises an eyebrow at him, "Weeelll, yes ok, I suppose you can have the last one. But at least I didn't... "

"Didn't what?" she asks.

"Didn't practically jump the Prince of Elestoei. Fell at his feet, you did." The Doctor sniffs.

"Oh don't start that again. I just _smiled_ at him, ok?"

Anyway, he was a distraction for me from you being all forbidden, she thinks to herself. With all the sexual tension that had been flying around in the TARDIS that week, Rose had almost exploded. So making the Doctor jealous by pretending to like this other guy was a nice distraction. But she would never have done more than smile at the Prince. Thoughts of the Doctor invaded her mind too much to ever even _remotely _like somebody else.

"And then there was Henry. I told you – I specifically _told_ you – 'don't let him dance with you, he's a right player' – didn't I say that? And what do you know. You bloody go and dance with him. And then he decides he wants you to replace dear Queen Catherine, poor woman, and he'd already spotted Anne as well, so really, you could've messed up the history there, Rose. You would've ruined the rhyme if he'd gone for you and not Anne. Although, at least she would've kept her head. Oh, but you might have lost yours, instead! Bet you wouldn't have liked that! You did look nice in that dress though – obviously his Highness' type of woman - but - "

" – enough! See! I told you that you get jealous. But I couldn't help that one. He was very charming. And not at all how I imagined. Very...athletic..."

Another adventure, another attempted distraction. It didn't work, of course. By then, she had already fallen (jumped) into bed with the Doctor, and no way was she ever leaving now she had gotten there. But however much she loved him, and loved being with him, she knew he didn't feel quite the same. So the distractions were always there, to keep her on a level playing field with him – as much as she had told him, quite often, that she loved him, she had to make herself appear indifferent, sometimes. Because he didn't love her back. And she needed distractions from that.

She was wrong, of course. But how could she know? He hadn't told her.

"Ha! Athletic. He got very, very large later in life. You wouldn't have liked him then. Oh, but he was _ginger. _How come he gets to be ginger and I don't? No wonder you fell for him. Knew I should've been ginger..."

She bursts out laughing at him.

"I didn't fall for him, Doctor – ginger or not. You can be such an idiot sometimes. I haven't...I would never..." It was obvious, wasn't it? He knew that she could only ever love him. "Ok. In conclusion, we've both done our fair share of chatting up the royals. But it doesn't mean anything. Well, not to me, anyway. I'm here, aren't I?"

"Yes. But you really did - "

"Doctor! Give it a rest. How do you think I felt with the _very_ rapid way you became all besotted with Madame de bloody Pompadour? We both...Well. We are both here now, with each other...so..."

The Doctor feels guilty, now. Rose is so forgiving. Reinette had been a lapse in judgement on his part. He hadn't meant to appear '_besotted' _with her_. _He hadn't _been _besotted. He hates to think that Rose thought he had been. He sort of got cast under her spell, for a bit, what with her being so forward and everything; she was a woman who made every human man fall in love with her. But it didn't quite work on the Doctor. Not when he was already so incredibly, irrevocably...

But, well, Rose didn't know that, did she? Even if he thought she did.

Reinette had been a distraction, that's all. Just like they all were; everyone else they came into contact with – all distractions, used by them both to pretend...to stop themselves admitting their true feelings for each other. Except, for a while now, Rose had been professing her love for him, but he hadn't done the same in return. Not yet. But he should. He doesn't know why. But something tells him he should. And there are no distractions now. No more hiding.

"So...?" he prompts. He's not sure why, but he will tell her. He'll tell her today.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"_So...?" he prompts. He's not sure why, but he will tell her. He'll tell her today._

"So, that means that whatever handsome or beautiful or rich or charming people we meet on our travels through time and space...nothing can replace this. Us," she says. Whatever 'us' is to you, she thinks. "So no one else is important."

He likes how she says that. He's glad she believes them to be inseparable. But...

"But what if I take you to a planet and you fall in love with some..._alien..._and you decide you want to stay there and live there and leave me?"

"Are you really that insecure?" She doesn't believe for a minute that he is. She knows he's just doing it to boost his ego up to the moon.

He tugs his ear. "Actually, no. I just like to hear you say that you - "

And that's when it dawns on him, finally. He_ likes_ her saying it to him, telling him that he'll belong to her forever – he loves it. So why should he deprive her of the same thing? He understands now. It's nice to be told. Even if you already know.

"...saying that you'll always stay with me," he says, and she smiles gently at him.

Maybe...she thinks...maybe, if he likes hearing it from her...maybe he does feel the same? She knows that he cares about her – he's proven that with the way he looks after her and wants her to be safe. He most definitely shows her he cares for her when he makes love to her every night – and sometimes morning and occasionally in the middle of the day like that time on Cala while they were trapped in that tiny cupboard for three hours...Anyway, she knows that they are best friends, and have the time of their lives together. She knows she must be special, as he insists he has never done all this – broken all the rules - with any other companion. But she also knows that the Doctor doesn't let himself fall in love.

Once again, she is wrong. She should know that, really, without the reassurance of his words. Perhaps somewhere deep inside she suspects that he does love her, like when he gives her that intense, passionate look, or kisses her with such tenderness one minute and with fervent desire the next. But the Doctor has never uttered those three little words to her, as insignificant as they may be in the bigger picture, and so she never knows for sure.

Nevertheless, she loves him. And she tells him. More or less.

"I'll always stay with you, Doctor. I've already found my _alien_," she says, smiling her teasing smile, poking her tongue between her teeth. She moves her arms up to grasp around his neck, and her fingers play with the hair at the nape of his neck.

He chuckles at her, shivers a little at her touch, and then his face grows serious. "Rose..."

"Yeah?"

"You know that...well, with Reinette - I didn't love her," he clears his throat, "What I mean is, you know that I could never have loved her, not when...well. Basically, the thing is, I was already – I am already..."

Rose frowns. One, because she had thought that the Doctor's feelings for Reinette had run deep, so she was naturally surprised (and very pleased) to discover they hadn't. Two, because she had this feeling that she had forgotten something. Her mind wanders, trying to grasp at the lost thought.

Oh. Oh dear.

She doesn't know what he is about to say, but she suddenly remembers something, and as whatever it is he's trying to tell her is taking an awfully long time, she reasons it can't be that important, so she interrupts him impatiently.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you! The Egg! We didn't pick it up..."

The Doctor's a bit confused. Why did she have to go and interrupt him at that moment? He was going to tell her. It was going to be the best moment of their lives. It was going to be romantic and articulate and – well, maybe not. But it was going to be good.

"Were we meant to? I thought Mercatororo was going to deal with that?" he asks, a little agitated that his plan had spiralled out of control – as if it ever was in control in the first place.

"Ah...no. Actually, he sort of specifically asked me to take it back to its mother. I'm really sorry, I just...well..."

"You forgot," he points a finger at her, and pretends to be annoyed. He isn't annoyed. He is actually quite amused that his usually incredibly efficient Rose had forgotten something – ordinarily, he relied on her to keep him focused and on track, and she very rarely missed something. She was brilliant, he surmised. But this time, she'd made a mistake...

"You distracted me," Rose accuses, poking the Doctor in the chest.

Ah. Oh dear. Turns out it was his fault after all. He knew she was too good.

"Did I?" Act nonchalant, he thinks to himself.

"Yes."

"How?"

"By...doing this..."

She gives him a demonstration of how he had successfully removed all thoughts of retrieving the Egg of Fruitii from her mind. It involved a very, _very _thorough snog. And a bit of a squeeze of his bum.

"And as you don't normally do that – well, in public, anyway – I was extremely surprised. And secretly delighted," she murmurs against his lips.

He clears his throat.

"Ah. Yes, well, um, I would imagine that would be very distracting of me. Sorry about that; don't know what came over me," he apologises, though he knows exactly what came over him. A desire to kiss his Rose, who had looked positively radiant in that instant, with the gentle breeze sweeping her hair across her face, and the red sun highlighting her features. That desire to kiss her comes over him quite frequently, actually, though he normally restrains it when they have an audience. In case they got carried away. Who knew what extent of public affection certain planets prohibited anyway? The Doctor didn't always know. Or he thought he knew, but then he'd get the rules mixed up with some other planet's. They could be arrested or executed or something if they weren't careful.

"I suppose it's all my fault then..." he trails off, still buzzing from the delightful kiss she'd just given him.

"Yep," she grinned at him wickedly, licking her lips.

"Mmmm," he's still a bit dazed.

"Doctor?"

"Yeah..." He wants to kiss her again.

"Should we, you know? Go back and get it?"

"What's that?"

"The _Egg?"_

"Of course! Come on now, Rose, don't get distracted again! I know I'm incredibly good at snogging, but still..." he winks at her, and she laughs at him heartily, not the least bit annoyed at his ability to make her look like _she's_ the one all dazed and confused.

"Alons-y!" he says, suddenly pulling her out of the TARDIS doors again, back to where they had previously been adventuring.

*******

And later, when the Egg is safe in its mother's arms, and Rose is safe in the Doctor's, he whispers a promise, oh-so-quietly, into her ear...

"Tomorrow. And you won't interrupt me this time."

"What do you mean?" Rose asks him sleepily.

"You'll see," he replies mysteriously, nuzzling her hair with his nose.

"Ok," she accepts, dozing off.

*******

But will tomorrow come?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_But will tomorrow come?_

Of course it does. It always does.

Well, until it doesn't. But that wasn't happening any time soon. Not for them.

But will he keep his promise?

Maybe. Maybe not.

*******

And so tomorrow comes around, and the Doctor wakes up and resolves that today is the day when he will tell Rose the truth. He will tell Rose he loves her. Despite the fact she must already know, of course.

He feels sort of dizzy with excitement. He's not sure why. It's entirely undignified. But oh well. That's what Rose does to him.

He looks at her sleeping for a while, and relishes in the fact that he can do this, finally. Wake up with her. Stare at her beautiful form properly, rather than through stolen glances when she wasn't paying attention. She is his and he is hers. He isn't sure how long it will last, but he's going to do everything in his power to make it last a very long time.

He wishes he could give her forever.

Planting a soft kiss to her temple, the Doctor knows that Rose is stirring from her dreams. She is clutching at his t-shirt and wriggling around a bit. Soon enough, she opens her eyes, blearily looking up at him.

"Hello," he murmurs softly.

"Hello," she smiles back at him. She lifts a hand up to his face and strokes his sideburns. He raises an eyebrow. "Sorry," she says quickly, feeling like perhaps she shouldn't do this...but she doesn't remove her hand.

"It's alright," he smiles, "I know you love my sideburns."

"That I do," she reaches up and kisses his jaw line as she says it.

The Doctor makes a contented sound and captures her lips with his own. A few minutes later, Rose breaks the kiss. Her stomach rumbles loudly.

"Hungry? Time for breakfast!" he asks.

"I'd rather stay here," she replies, snuggling into his side.

"Nonsense. You must be starving. I know I am. I quite fancy a banana, actually..."

"You always quite fancy a banana," she mumbles into his chest.

"So? You always quite fancy me," he teases, and she kicks him under the covers playfully, "And chips. You always want chips."

She laughs, and suddenly he is pulling her up and out of their bed, and towards the kitchen. He never lets go of her hand.

It is at times like these when Rose considers that he must love her a bit. They were in no imminent danger, had no need to run away from aliens or dodge bullets or anything. They were completely safe. There were no other people around, people that the Doctor could be potentially jealous of, so there was no need for him to prove to anyone that she belonged to him. And yet he never lets go of her hand.

Plus, they just woke up together in his bed, which must count for something. People who are 'just friends' don't do what they do together on a regular basis. Or any basis at all.

He hugs her like he loves her. He kisses her like he loves her. He...does other things with her like he loves her.

But he never ever says.

She doesn't think he ever will. And that's ok. That's...ok. Perhaps he loves her, but he isn't _in _love with her. And that's ok. She can deal with that.

Sort of.

"Right, I'm thinking marmalade and banana on toast..." Rose smiles at him as he busies himself making breakfast. She can't resist the urge to tease him a bit.

"You realise that you have been acting suspiciously domestic recently, don't you?"

The Doctor pauses, bread in his hands, hovering over the toaster.

After a few seconds, he replies.

"It had occurred to me, yes."

"And...?"

"What do you mean 'and...?'?" he asks, sitting down opposite her at the table.

"And...doesn't it freak you out? I mean, I didn't think you enjoyed this sort of stuff."

"Weeelll, it's not like I have given up the 'travelling in time and space and saving the universe like some unappreciated superhero' bit is it? I can make toast in the morning, defeat aliens in the day - with the unprecedented and invaluable help from you, of course - and then..."

"Then...?"

"Well. Then, go to bed with you at night. Cup of hot cocoa, slippers, book and all..." he grins at her.

"And the sex," she says, before blushing profusely red.

"Yes. Yes, that is a perk to this way of life, it has to be said," he smiles gently at her, "Why are you blushing? It's a perfectly glorious addition to the itinerary, from my point of view."

"I don't know, really. But I agree. It's pretty amazing."

They stare at each other for a few minutes, not saying a word. A smile tugs at both of their lips, but they try to stare each other down. Rose feels a bit flustered, actually, with him looking at her like he is. The Doctor, blissfully unaware of the effect he is having on her, continues to gaze into her eyes, marvelling at how this girl could change him so much, yet keep him so very much the same. He had always shied away from this sort of life. A couple-y kind of life. But he loves it. With Rose, anyway.

The toast pops up and they both jump three feet off their chairs, before giggling helplessly.

*******

A little while later, they both finish their breakfast and get dressed. And then undressed. Then re-dressed. They do take their time.

Finally, they are ready to begin the next adventure.

"Fancy a pop into the 1960s? We could see if the...what's wrong?" he asks, as he notices Rose bite her lip.

"Nothing. But can we go back further? Cos we were only in the '70s the other day, and I was thinking we could go back to earlier on in the 20th century for a change..."

The Doctor smiles at her. "Of course! Erm...right, how does this sound to you: back to 1920s London, pop in to an old pub for a bit of Charleston-ing, you can wear a nice black frilly flapper dress thing, ooh and your black heels - "

"Heels? We not gonna bump into any aliens today then?"

"Nope. Weeelll, maybe. Ok, I'll try not to land us in the midst of an alien invasion, this time."

"What about...gangsters and stuff? You're not gonna go and upset one are you? Cos then we'll have to run for our lives, and in _heels - _that's just way too difficult."

"As if I would..." he trails off when Rose raises an eyebrow at him, "...hmmm. Look, I promise, I won't talk to anyone but you, ok? Then how can anything go wrong?"

Rose likes this idea. Not only will she be able to literally live a bit of history, but she'll get to dress up. And have the Doctor to herself.

"Alright then. Sounds good to me," she says, smiling widely.

"Great!" replies the Doctor, grinning back at her.

*******

"Ah," he mutters as they step out of the TARDIS.

"What's wrong?" asks Rose, smoothing down her flapper dress.

"Rose. Erm...sorry, but we aren't in London."

She looks around her.

"New York?" she asks.

"Yep! Cor, you're getting good at this."

"Better than you," she laughs cheekily, "Nah, it's just I saw the Statue of Liberty over there," she continues, pointing.

"Oh. Anyway, we are still in the '20s. 1929. Just before the Wall Street Crash, actually, so everyone's happy, singing and dancing and the like."

"Oh good! Then let's go find a theatre and watch a show," she says, grabbing his hand.

**A/N: Hello :D Aha, the Doctor's always getting it wrong lol. I hope you're enjoying the story. Reviews are obviously always greatly appreciated :P **

**Love Laura, possibly the biggest 'Drose' (lol) shipper you ever did see xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

About six hours later and they are back in the TARDIS.

Rose is glaring at the Doctor.

The Doctor notices this. "Look Rose, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen..."

"You promised," Rose replies, pretending to be annoyed at him. She isn't really. How could she be?

They may have ended up in 1929 New York rather than London. Her dress may be ripped at her left heel may be broken. They may have had to stop another alien invasion, inadvertently _causing_ the Wall Street Crash in the process...that poor stockbroker...she shudders.

But Rose didn't mind that he'd got it all wrong again, and broken his promise of no running. It had been a fantastic adventure, just like always. And Rose had loved every second of it.

Although, she did feel a bit bad for them causing the worldwide Depression. But would they rather be invaded by Molops? Nope, of course they wouldn't. Just an unfortunate coincidence that the Molops were very good at maths, and had control of all America's stocks and shares, that's all.

But the Doctor feels nervous. He made a promise to Rose, and he broke it. He feels guilty, and sorry, but most of all nervous. Very, very nervous. Because an angry Rose was quite scary. And he hated to think he had upset her. Especially when today was the day that he was going to tell her...

"I'm really sorry. I wouldn't have intentionally broken my promise. And anyway..."

"Anyway?" Rose snaps back, trying to sound angry. He looks so guilty and she can't resist teasing him. It suddenly occurs to her that she's being very mean. But then, he had – albeit accidently – pushed her over into a pile of mud, so...

"Weeelll, it was fun, wasn't it?" he tries to sound optimistic.

"Fun? _Fun?"_ she scoffs, but she's stifling a giggle to continue her angry pretence.

The Doctor gulps loudly, worried he'd said the wrong thing again, and Rose can't stop herself from laughing anymore.

"What? Why are you laughing?" he asks, confused at her sudden change of temperament.

"Oh Doctor. Dear, dear Doctor..." she says, and shocks him even more by grabbing his tie and pressing his lips to hers in one quick motion.

She releases him, and he almost stumbles over.

He feels a bit dazed.

"I'm gonna go get in the bath. I have mud in my hair. But it's alright, I forgive you. See you in a bit?" she calls over her shoulder as she walks away from him.

He feels even more dazed.

"Rose? So, you didn't mind, after all?"

"Of course not. It was _fun_!" she shouts back from down the corridor.

"Ohhh. Good! Thank god for that," he replies, and the mutters to himself, "Women."

He follows the route she took down the corridor, planning to go in his room and get changed. He can hear her turning on the taps in the bathroom. Then he remembers her saying: _'See you in a bit?'_ and wonders if that was an invitation.

He decides that even if it wasn't, it is now.

He walks up to the bathroom door and knocks lightly.

"Yeah?" Rose answers from inside.

He can hear the splash of water as she climbs in the bathtub. He swallows thickly.

"I just wondered..." he says, unsure of what to say. They were_ together_ together now, so he isn't sure why he's so nervous to ask her whether he can come in. To a room in which Rose was in. Naked.

He shivers.

"Yeah?" she prompts. She wonders what he is trying to say.

"Can I come in?" he asks, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Of course. The door isn't locked," she replies. Is that it? she thinks.

"Oh. Ok," he says, opening the door. That was easy.

He steps into the room and she smiles at him.

"Hi," she says.

"Hello," he replies, smiling back at her.

They silently look each other in the eye for a few moments. Then, Rose notices the Doctor glance lower, and then almost immediately flick his eyes back to focus on her face.

"You come to join me?" she asks, tongue poking out between her teeth as she smiles teasingly.

"Erm...yes?" he says, hesitating. His gaze slips from her eyes again.

"Ok," she says simply. Then she laughs at his bewildered expression. "Doctor, what's wrong? It's not like you haven't seen me naked before, is it?"

The Doctor is about to retort, then realises he should probably bring his gaze back up to her eyes. Rather than...well, lower. Then he speaks, "No. But..."

"But?"

"Weeelll, this time, you're all wet."

"Would you look at that, I suppose I am. That's because I'm half submerged in water, I guess," she says, feigning disbelief, giggling at him.

God, she loves him.

"Mmmm. Quite." He thinks she looks rather nice like this, actually.

Rassilon, he loves her.

"Doctor?"

"Yep?"

"You gonna stand there all night?"

"Oh. No, definitely not." He moves forward until he's standing right beside the bath. Right above her.

"Good," she replies.

"Good," he echoes.

But he just stands there. Clothes still on.

She's very distracting when she's in the bath, you see.

So Rose decides to take matters into her own hands. She stands up in the tub, which was bigger than average, and looks at him sternly. Droplets of water drip down her body and the Doctor watches each and every one of them. His eyes glaze over and his mouth falls open a bit.

Suddenly, his mind flits back to a few months ago, when they were in that Vegas hotel room, and she was standing there freshly showered, but wrapped in a towel and he couldn't touch her, or kiss her, or tell her...

She takes this opportunity to pull him towards her and passionately kiss him.

His arms come up to wrap around her, one hand sliding up into her hair, and the other down to her lower back. She squeezes herself into him, her hands fisting into his shirt.

And he is so happy that he's allowed to embrace her in this way. He was an idiot, back in Vegas, to just let her stand there and not _tell her._

After several minutes, they both pull back slightly, foreheads resting against each other, each of them breathing shakily.

"Wow," she murmurs against his lips.

"Wow indeed," he whispers back, "You're...you're beautiful," then he glances down at himself, "Oh. Look - you've got my shirt all wet now."

"Serves you right. It was unfair of you, you know, to be standing there with all your clothes on, looking so dry."

"Oh yes, I know. Sorry."

"That's ok. I forgive you."

"Good."

"Good," she beams at him, and with that, she pulls him down, down into the bath with her.

The water sloshes over the side and the Doctor splutters in surprise as his knees hit the side. He's fallen half in, so he decides he might as well go the whole way. He climbs the rest of his body into the bath, and looks at her warily.

"You know, you could've warned me. Or let me take my clothes _off _first. Now everything's wet."

"I know," she smiles mischievously. She winks at him, "I like it."

He's lying very much on top of her now, his arms still wrapped around her, between her back and the bottom of the bath. Her legs come up to wrap around his waist and she pushes him closer to her. She strokes his chest lightly, and begins to unbutton his shirt. He leans down and presses gentle kisses to her neck, then to her collar bone, and down, down, lower and lower.

Her hands leave his shirt to grasp the sides of the bath.

*******

Three hours later and the Doctor watches Rose fall asleep on the floor, curled up into his side, her hand tightly in his. After the bathroom and the, erm, corridor, they'd ended up in the kitchen, _attempting_ to make a cup of tea. But...well, doing that whilst still wearing absolutely nothing was possibly an _im_possible objective. Thus, neither of them poured out the tea, and both of them got distracted.

He makes to stand up, bringing Rose up into his arms to carry her to bed, when he pauses.

Something occurs to him.

The beautiful woman in his arms had _completely_ distracted him from saying what he wanted to say to her for the entirety of the evening. _Damn_.

This was unfair.

Oh well, he reasons, as he walks them both to his bedroom. She already knows, anyway.

_But does she?_

There's always tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"It's not like you don't do it all the time!" he exclaims in exasperation.

"_What?" _she screeches, and he's aware that he's said something else terribly, terribly wrong. He's been doing that all day.

Bugger.

Quick, rectify the situation. Redeem yourself, Time Lord, he thinks to himself.

"Listen, I didn't mean it like that. I promise! Rose...Rose, listen! Rose! _Rose..."_he follows her as she walks away from the console room, towards the library. Why do their arguments always happen in the library? he thinks. It's sort of ironic really, because it's also the room in which they most often -

"I can't believe you. I can't believe you just said that. Why did you say that? _Why? _Why now?" Rose spins round to face him, stopping his motions and thoughts in their tracks.

"Because...because...I'm an idiot." It's the best he can do. He's rubbish at this.

"Ha. Finally! Not so high and mighty now, are we Doctor? Where'd all your self-importance go, eh?"

"Oi!" He was perfectly nice, wasn't he? There was no need to be rude...

"There's no need to be rude," he voices his thoughts.

"Me, rude? Pot calling kettle black. You've just proven to be the rude one. Rude - and absolutely, completely, never could and never will be: _ginger_!"

Well. That was uncalled for.

"Rose!" he places his hand over one of his hearts, "Your words wound me. Cut me to the core, they do. How very mean of you-"

"You usually think you're soooo clever..." she interrupts.

"I _am _clever!"

"...swanning around the bloody universe like you're the most impressive bloody man..."

"I _am _impressive! I impress you all the time. Especially when we're -"

"- Don't you dare. Don't you dare say it! Anyway, who says I'm impressed? Right now, I'm extremely _un_impressed..."

"Yes, well. That's because – like I've already admitted – I'm an idiot. I've always been an idiot, really, underneath all this intelligence and impressiveness. Especially since I... "

"Since you what?"

"...Weeelll. Since I met you."

"Oh. Oh, well that's nice. Thanks a lot."

Bugger.

"No! No! No no no! I didn't mean it like that! I didn't mean I was an idiot because I wanted you - "

"- Because you wanted me?" she scoffs.

"Because I wanted you to _travel_ with me. I _meant_, I've been acting _more_ idiotic since you've been travelling with me."

"Why?" she's genuinely curious now.

"What?"

"Why's that then?"

"I...I don't know. Weeelll, I guess...well, I sort of broke all the rules quite quickly, didn't I?"

"_Quickly? _I had to wait for a bloody year!_ And_ for you to get a new face before you even _thought _about..." She's in full flow now, and all her frustrations are being brought up.

"What, so you would've...back then, you wanted..." he stutters, disbelief flooding through him.

Despite her annoyance at the incredibly dense Time Lord standing in front of her, Rose blushes bright red. She also feels a bit dizzy. She thinks her drink may have been a bit alcoholic or something, back at that farm place.

"Er...Well, yeah. I don't just...well, like you for your good looks, you know. I liked you before, big ears and all."

"Ah. Well, that's good to know. Cos seriously, I would've thought only one's mother could have loved that old face. This one's much better. I bet you prefer this one. Younger. Sexier. Or...perhaps I just exude a certain charm, whatever I look like..." he muses, and then, aware that she's changed from rowing with him to giggling at him, he decides to tease her some more, "So, you admit it then – you _like_ my cleverness and impressiveness?" He leans forward and wiggles his eyebrows at her.

"Yeah, ok. You got a point there..." she trails off as he presses a kiss to her hand he's holding in his. She clears her throat, "Woah. Stop that..." he's now pulling her towards him, whilst simultaneously pushing her into the library door, "Cos that doesn't change anything. I'm still angry at you. Don't distract me."

She is so easily distracted by him. She keeps forgetting to stay annoyed when he's touching her like that –

This stops now.

She pulls away from him, albeit reluctantly, and opens the door, stepping into the location of so many of their previous disagreements (and making-up frivolities.) He feels a bit bereft to have her suddenly so far away from him. Even though realistically, there are still only a few feet between them.

"Right, yes of course, sorry," he follows her into the room and pauses, having a sudden, confused epiphany, "What are you angry about, again?"

"Doct - " she's about to admonish, but stops when she realises she has no answer, "I...I have no idea. Why were we arguing?"

"I don't remember," he replies hastily. He does remember. But he doesn't want her to remember.

Damn it, she thinks. She can't give in this easily. Why does she have to get all flustered when he looks at her like that? It's so unfair. Quick, what was it he did?

Something doesn't feel right here; maybe she'd unwittingly consumed something dodgy.

She would have to hurry up and remember before he used her hesitancy as an opportunity to kiss her. He was already inching closer to her. She doesn't have very strong willpower where he's concerned, and thus would probably_ let_ him, despite him almost sha...

Oh! Yes! No. Wait. She remembers now. But should she just pretend to forget? He looked so kissable right now...

Bloody hell. He _must've_ put something in her drink.

She had to be strong. Hold her ground.

"Oh! Wait, yes I do. And so do you, so don't play the ignorance card with me. I'm angry at you because you told the Queen of the Iceni tribe – bloody _Boudica_ herself – that you were 'free and available, never mind the blonde, she's just a _slave'_ How bloody rude can you get? Just a slave indeed."

"Look, it was just a joke, Rose. I simply meant I was free to help her with her problem."

"She didn't see it as a joke. She almost pounced on you – if it weren't for me reminding her about the fact that her husband _just died _and the Romans were invading her kingdom, who knows, maybe you'd have fathered some ginger kids by now!"

The Doctor tries not to laugh.

He fails. Epically.

"Stop it! Stop laughing!"she screeches.

"I can't help it, I'm sorry. It's just – you've gone from being really, really angry, to almost 'pouncing' on me yourself, back to really, really angry again. It's really quite ridiculously funny. You've never been quite like this before. Is this what a human woman's time of the month mood swings are supposed to be like?"

Rose shoots him a death glare. "And you can shut up about that, thank you very much."

To be honest, Rose doesn't even know why her hormones appear to be all over the place. It's very unlike her to get all angry with the Doctor in the first place. Something must be wrong. Maybe she's ill?

"Blimey. What's up with you, eh? I didn't make this much fuss when you went all flirty with Dylan flipping Thomas, did I?" he says.

Well. If he thinks he can just...god, he's such a _liar._

"Yes you did! You were _completely _rude to him; you were so jealous. And I didn't completely disregard you and offer myself to him like you did to bloody Boudica, did I?" Rose argues.

"No, but he wrote a _love _poem about you didn't he?"

"So what if he did? What do you even care, anyway? You don't own me."

"Don't I?"

"Of course you don't."

"Do you own me?"

"Of course I do."

"How in Rassilon's name does _that_ make an iota of sense?"

"It just does. Woman's prerogative."

"Right..." The Doctor was thoroughly bemused now. Women...

"Listen, the point is: you blatantly wanted to go repopulate the Celts with Boudica, and -"

"Repopulate the...? Bloody hell Rose," he scoffs.

"- and _I _was reduced to the social standing of a _slave _for the rest of the day. Had to flipping clean out the stables and everything."

"Rose, look, the only reason I acted a little – a tiny, tiny, _little _– bit flirty with Boudica - "

"- is because she was bold, feisty and beautiful," Rose interrupts.

"Bit like you then. But that's not what I was going to say. The only reason was because -"

"- she was a redhead?"

"Rose. Stop interrupting me."

"Why should I?"

"So I can _explain. _You're acting so..."

"So what? Unreasonable? Irrational? Childish? So unlike me?"

"Yes. All of those things."

"I know."

"Good. So stop."

Rose isn't sure if she can.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you rode off with her and left _me _to clean up all the sodding alien mess!"

"Oh for god's...Listen. To. Me. Nothing happened. Nothing happened, whatsoever. We went to Prasutagus' palace, saw that the Roman soldiers had begun to loot it, and then we turned around to come back. How was I to know that we were going to get kidnapped and tied together? I mean, yeah, it occurred to me that the Romans might get hold of us, but I never thought that the Eeek fleet from Astral Four would swoop down and invade. That surprised even me!"

"And then I had to come in and save your sorry ar - "

"Rose. Since when have you minded saving the day, eh? You are constantly helping me save the universe, if not doing it all by yourself. What makes this any different?"

"Because she kissed you! And you kissed her back! While I had to stand there and _watch."_

"Yeah. Ok, granted: _that's_ the bit where I was an idiot."

"And the rest."

"Ok. Yeah, and the bit where I called your mum a gladiator. But that was just to get a laugh from our captors."

"Whatever," she dismisses, turning around and walking over to one of the bookshelves. She's exhausted herself after all that arguing, and wishes she'd just let it drop earlier on.

But the Doctor is determined to continue.

"Rose, do you honestly think that I would want to even kiss Boudica, let alone – what was it you said? Oh yeah, 'repopulate the Celts,' – have you any _idea _how bad her breath was?"

Rose spins around again, changing her tactics. She's suddenly all for feminism. She has no idea what's come over her.

"What? Well, that's a bit rude, isn't it? Don't be so prejudiced against her, just 'cos toothpaste hasn't been invented yet! Who are you to judge a woman because of her lack of minty-freshness?"

"Wha- What? _What? _So now you're defending her? Oh my good god, woman! What am I suppose to say, eh? What do you want me to say? I've tried apologising - "

"Well, try harder. Things like this...they may seem insignificant to you, Doctor. It may seem like you can just go around using people like that, kissing women, right in front of me, just to get the inside information on whatever suspicious thing is going on at the time...but I just...I just, I can't...oh god. Now, I know you think I'm blowing this all out of proportion – and I know I probably am – but this argument – me being all moody and angry - isn't about _this, _not really. It's about you. And me. And what this all is between us..."

"What?" he says, swallowing thickly. He suddenly feels very nervous.

"...'Cos I thought I could do it; I thought I could love you and sleep with you and it would all be enough, but I _can't, _Doctor. I'm not saying anything as silly as I want to have a normal human life or anything like that. I don't want marriage or, god forbid, _kids, _or a house with a white picket fence – I have this _irrational_ fear of a mortgage, just like you do. I don't need a cat or a dog or a hamster or a job or a car or anything normal and ordinary like that. That's not what I want, and it's not what I'm asking. All I want is to be with you, like we are, together on the TARDIS, travelling the universe, as it should be; but I need to know you want it too..."

"Of cou - "

"...'Cos sometimes, it's like – I think you like it. I think you're ok with the whole 'domestic' side of things, and the 'dancing' and everything. But I don't know if you want it like I do. I don't know if you feel the same way about me as I feel about you. I don't know how...I don't know. I just...don't know. Do you even - "

The Doctor cuts her off by pressing his lips to hers. It's not forceful or demanding. It's gentle. It's...reassuring. She likes it. But she has no idea of what is happening now. Should she pull away? She doesn't know. She's a bit bewildered. She feels a bit like she's going to throw up, actually. Not because of the kiss, mind you, but because she feels ill. What _has _she eaten?

He couldn't bear to listen to her talking that way anymore. He can't believe what an idiot he's been. Assuming she knew...all this time...she never realised? Was she blind?

"Are you blind?" he whispers, mouth close to hers, his hands grasping the sides of her face.

"Wh..what?" she stutters. She feels dizzy.

"Are you blind?" He can see she's confused. "Rose. How can you not see, every time you look into my eyes, the way I feel about you? How can you not see, with every grasp of your hand; with every tight hug; with every kiss: that I want this. I want you. No matter what you think about me, or what you think I want, the truth is, I can't get enough of this. Of you."

Rose pushes him away from her and is about to argue some more, when she looks into his eyes. He looks like...he looks like he has tears in his eyes. She's never seen him get so emotional before. She's confused. And she needs to sit down.

"Why are we doing this?" she asks softly. She's unsure of why she's been acting so emotional. She is never normally like this. Something's different, somehow.

What did she...when did she...she thinks she might be a bit ill.

"Doing what?"

"This. Arguing. Confessing," she sighs, "We don't need to do this. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm just being stupid. We have a good thing going here. I don't want to ruin it. Ignore me, I'm just...hormonal or ill or something..."

"Rose."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up. Please."

"What?" she wobbles on her feet a little. The Doctor doesn't notice. He's too busy looking at the floor.

"We do need to do this. I need you to know, I need you to understand - "he pauses, and looks up into her eyes, which, he notices, are glazing over a bit. He supposes it's because she's tired. "– I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry - "

Rose feels like her heart is about to break. And she also feels a little faint. The strange thing is, the two things feel entirely unrelated, somehow.

"- Oh. No, it's ok. Don't say it. Don't say it. I know," she mumbles. She _knew _she had let herself fall too deep; she _knew _she shouldn't have let herself fall for him, when he doesn't feel the same.

"You do?"

"Yeah," her voice breaks as she says her reply. She sways a little, unsteady on her feet again.

The Doctor looks doubtful. He thinks she's thinking a completely different thing.

Rose doesn't really hear what he says next. The room seems to fade away...

"I don't think you do. Listen to me. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Rose Tyler, I lo - "

He stops when Rose falls to the floor in front of him.

"Rose? Rose?" he inquires urgently, dropping to the floor beside her and checking her pulse. It seems normal. But she's unconscious. And the Doctor is very worried.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

He sweeps her up into his arms and runs to the infirmary. Placing her on the examination table, he swiftly uses all the medical equipment and tests to try and find out what's wrong with her.

He can't believe this is happening, really. One minute they had been arguing, the next he had been about to _tell _her, and the _next..._she had collapsed right in front of him. He has to find out why...

...oh. _Oh. _Oh no. Rose had acquired an alien equivalent of influenza, and it was messing with her mind. That explains the mood swings; the anger, the confused emotions. This illness – Lacustua, it's called – takes a while to get into the system of a human female, so she must've caught it just before they'd visited ancient England, and it's taken this long before she even noticed she was feeling rough. He'd had a passing thought that she looked dizzy and a bit unwell earlier on, while she was mid-flow in her argument, and he feels guilty that he didn't check up on it.

But he had just put it down to her exhaustion from having such a massive go at him.

He sets up some fluids and he's soon feeding her a cocktail of medicines through a tube into her arm. She will be better in no time. Some medicine, plenty of rest, lots of water, and she'll be fine. If only she would wake up from being so...unconscious.

He holds her hand, and waits.

*******

After about nine hours, Rose's eyes flutter open. She looks around her, confused, and feels the Doctor's hand in hers, and knows that whatever is going on, she's safe. She shifts a little and looks down. The Doctor's head is resting on her stomach, his glasses on, his eyes closed. Rose thinks he looks absolutely adorable.

"Doct -" she tries to say, but her mouth is dry and she barely croaks out the word.

Nonetheless, the Doctor hears her, and sits up abruptly when he feels her hands tug his hair. He peers at her closely. "Thank god...How are you feeling?" he murmurs.

"Well, fine," she clears her throat, "But thirs - " Before she attempts to finish speaking, the Doctor brings a glass of water to her lips, and she drinks it greedily.

"Thanks," she says earnestly.

"You're welcome," he replies.

"What's going..." she trails off as she notices the wires and tubes for the first time, "Oh...god, where am I?"

"You were a bit ill earlier. I brought you down to the infirmary in the TARDIS."

"Oh ok. Why was I ill? What happened?"

"You fell to the floor unconscious, so I ran some tests and it turns out you have Lacustua – sort of alien flu – weeelll, you _had _it. I gave you some medicine to cure it, so you're all better now. Hopefully."

"Thank you. You really are a doctor, eh Doctor? My Doctor. Oh, but: 'hopefully'?"

"Weeelll, I must admit, I got a bit worried when you didn't wake up for nine hours, so I did think that perhaps my medicating skills were a bit off. But you're fine. Really, you're completely fine," he says, smiling widely with sheer relief that what he is telling her is the truth.

"Nine hours? Blimey. Sorry," she says in disbelief.

The Doctor chuckles, "You don't need to apologise, Rose, it's not your fault. If anyone is to blame, it's me, letting you catch it like that..."

"Hey, don't blame yourself. I chose all this, yeah? This life exploring the universe. So it's my own fault – whether I catch, I dunno, a cold or something more serious form whichever alien planet we visit. It's not your fault. So don't you dare blame yourself."

"I...That's going to be hard, but...ok."

"Good," she smiles.

"Good," he replies, smiling back.

"So...you stayed with me? The whole nine hours?"

"Of course I did. Had to be here when you woke up, didn't I?"

Rose smiles, deciding not to tease him about him falling asleep. 'Time Lords don't sleep,' indeed... "Thankyou," she says simply.

"Never let go of this hand," he whispers, almost to himself rather than in reply to her, pressing her hand he's holding to his lips.

Rose's heart skips a beat and she feels wonderful...she feels...hmmm. She feels like she's forgotten something.

"Doctor...?"

He looks up at her. "Yeah?

"I dunno...it's like I've forgotten something, but I can't remember what. Cos I've forgotten it. Well, obviously," she says, giggling a bit at her rambled sentence.

"What do you remember about today? Or rather, yesterday?" he asks, glancing at the clock.

"I remember... waking up. That was...interesting..." she says, smiling dreamily. The Doctor remembers waking up, too. It had been lots of fun. She really knew how to surprise him...

Anyway...

Clearing his throat, he asks, "Anything else?"

Rose thinks. "Erm..._oh! _I remember going to England...and meeting Boudica...and then, nothing...erm..._oh!" _

Uh-oh. She remembers now. The Doctor really hopes she isn't going to have another go at him. He's already apologised about a million times. Literally. He got up to 999,860 times while she was unconscious. Just because she couldn't hear him, doesn't mean it shouldn't count.

But what she says takes him by surprise. "Oh god, Doctor, I'm sorry about all that stuff I said. Just...ignore me. It was silly, I didn't even mean it...I felt a bit weird, actually, like I wasn't really me - "

" - The virus triggered an exaggeration effect in your hormone levels," he interrupts, "Everything – all your emotions – seemed to multiply by 100%. Which explains all the anger that abruptly changed to...erm, arousal...then back to anger again. And then, the...sadness."

"Exactly. See, I didn't mean any of it."

"Weelll, technically, all those feelings were still part of you – you still felt them, deep down, but you being you, you would never have said anything, would you? Because you're too good. Too nice. But because of the illness, all of your feelings sort of exploded, uncontrolled. So, you see, you did mean some of it. Just not quite so much."

"Right. Ok. I guess that's...I guess that's right."

"Yep." He begins to help her up off the examination table.

"So..."she says, standing up, only to stumble into the Doctor's arms. Rose feels delighted at the contact, if she's honest. So does he. He takes his time pushing her away, holding her arms gently for a few moments, and pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"So...?" he repeats, finally setting her straight on her feet, but keeping his arm wrapped tightly around her as he helps her walk towards the door.

"Where does that leave...everything? Us?" she asks tentatively.

"Weeelll, how do you want it to be left? From my side, I'm really sorry for everything that happened yesterday, and I hope that you forgive me and we can go back to normal. Without all the shouting and stuff. You're quite scary when you're angry, you know."

"Scary? You were _laughing _at me most of the time," she says mock-sternly, but her own laughter gives her away.

"Yes, well, it was a bit funny, because you were acting so differently from your usual self. I should have noticed there and then that something wasn't quite right."

"Don't worry about it. All over with now, yeah? Well, except my legs are still a bit jellified. But I'm fine, and you're fine, and _we're_ fine."

"Yeah?" he asks hopefully.

"Definitely," she smiles, and the Doctor picks her up in his arms and swings her around. "More than fine," she adds, laughing at his impromptu elevation of her into the air and his arms, "We're brilliant!" And the Doctor spins her faster.

Gradually, he stops spinning and, her arms still wrapped tightly around his neck, his around her waist, they look at each other silently for a moment. They are pressed together so close that he can feel her heart rate speed up, and he momentarily thinks she might still be ill. Her breathing is speeding up, too.

He senses that her hormone levels are...ah. Oh. Then he gets it.

"Rose Tyler, do you want me to kiss you?"

Rose smiles, her tongue slipping between her teeth. "Oh yes," she whispers.

"Hmmm. That's good," he replies, and proceeds to kiss her for the millionth time. Quite literally. They did this a lot, now. Rather brilliantly.

It was almost like they were always meant to do this. Who could've known that two people, so very, very different – different species, in fact – would fit together so perfectly, be so perfectly made for one another?

They _were _meant to do this. This is the Doctor and Rose. Rose and the Doctor. In the TARDIS, kissing passionately, just as it should be. And it's brilliant!

But he still hasn't told her.

Hence she still doesn't know.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Oh, but when he said: 'Life's better with bananas' I almost wet myself – you looked so chuffed!" Rose giggles as they walk back to the TARDIS after another adventure.

"Yep!" the Doctor agrees, popping the 'p,' "Told you bananas are good. Brilliant, in fact! Not only a good ice-breaker at parties, but also a handy way to prevent a full-blown Izzsit attack on the planet Fedor. That Commander bloke was so grateful..."

"Mmm, he certainly was. Which was lucky. Otherwise we would be being turned into – what was that you called it?"

"Moussioto," the Doctor informs her.

"Right. Nope. Didn't fancy that," she replies.

"So! Where do you wanna go next?"

"Erm...well, bed, really..."

"Oh! Hmmm, yes, that's actually better than what I had plann-"

"- no, actually, I meant to, well...sleep. Sorry. I just...I haven't slept in um..." she pauses, glancing at her watch, "...twenty-eight hours, what with the evil Otters and then the Izzsit attack thing..."

"Oh, right, well yes of course. You human: need rest. I get it."

"Do you mind?"

"Of course not. I'll just...tinker with the TARDIS or something."

"You know, that sounds a bit wrong. Don't say that. I mean, I know she's _alive _and everything, but still-"

"Ok, ok - I get your point."

"Good."

"Good."

They reach the TARDIS and open the doors smiling at each other.

"You know what? You were brilliant today, Rose," comments the Doctor as she leans up to give him a peck on the cheek. She pauses at his words, hands flat against his chest.

"Thanks," she breathes out, "So were you." She pulls back a little and smiles cheekily at him, "But...what do you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you just complimented me. You don't usually do that. Apart from when...well, you know."

"What, so I can't compliment my..." he trails off. My...what? he asks himself. What is she to him now? Every _ordinary_ word – friend, lover, girlfriend, companion, partner, other half – they don't fit, somehow. They don't quite feel _enough_. Perhaps it was because they were nowhere near ordinary themselves, so how could they expect the English language to be sufficient enough to describe what she meant to him?

"Doctor...?" Rose prompts when he appears to lose his trail of thought.

He clears his throat.

"I can't compliment you without having an ulterior motive? Who do you think I am? _Jack?_"

Rose laughs. He loves her laugh.

"I suppose..." she smirks, then with a swift kiss to his lips, she turns around and calls goodnight over her shoulder.

"Goodnight, Rose," he replies to her retreating form.

Aware that he's been standing very still, watching the direction in which she walked, for longer than was strictly _normal, _the Doctor glances around him. He notices her red jumper and a few magazines positioned on the captain's chair.

And her hairbrush on the console.

And those purple flip-flops she was wearing on Sultan a few days ago lying haphazardly a few feet away from him.

Oh, and nestled over in the corner was her lacy...well. Anyway, _that's _where it got to...He really had to be more careful where he threw that particular item in future. What if they had _guests _or something? Not that he particularly wanted anyone else to travel with them, but you never know. Perhaps they'd bump into Jack someday. Oh, he's going to have a lot of explaining to do when that time comes around. To both Jack and Rose.

She would hate him for leaving Jack behind back then, but...he was wrong. It hurt just to look at him. He was a friend, and a good man, but he was now a fixed point in time and space and every instinct in the Doctor's body told the Time Lord to run from the immortal human. But he knows he can't run forever. Rose has proven that to him in the last few months.

He shakes those thoughts away, mildly ashamed for his actions.

He looks around his TARDIS console room again, noting the lipgloss left on the side, and her leather jacket slung over the railing. He sees her purple top lying on the grating, and walks over to pick it up.

As he holds it in his hands, he realises just how much he has let Rose into his life. Once upon a time, this room would have looked bare - vacant of life and people. And Rose had come along and slowly, slowly, but as sure as the sun rises: this room looked lived in. She had her bedroom, and all of her belongings in it. But gradually, her possessions – whether it be trinklets she's picked up from strange marketplaces on far away planets, or everyday normal stuff like clothes – have infiltrated other areas of the ship.

The console room is scattered with her stuff. He knows that if he looked in the library there would be even more of her belongings located there. And the kitchen, he knows he'd find her special mug in the sink, along with her phone on the side...oh, and that interesting piece of rock from a planet they had visited, that had been knocked off the table - forgotten during a rather impressive, impromptu dancing session...

He thinks that perhaps this _is_ all very _domestic_, despite living in a time machine. He wonders if it's wrong that he doesn't care that she's made this ship feel like a home.

No. Of course it isn't. She lives here. She's more than just a guest. She can do what she likes, he concludes.

Lots of the time he knows she doesn't even think about it; more often than not they are relaxing or having breakfast or reading and suddenly they'll begin an adventure - and their previous activities, or the items they were holding, would be dropped without a second's thought.

Sometimes, he distracts her in different ways, and less important things are disregarded very, very quickly.

But occasionally, he thinks that maybe she leaves her stuff where it is just to test him. To see if he'll moan and pick up after her, or tell her to tidy up; like he used to, back when he was a different man.

But he won't. Because, if he's really honest, he loves having her stuff lying around; it reminds him that she is here, and she is here to stay. And she is his.

There's no going back now. She hasn't got a bag packed ready to leave at any given moment. And all of her things are here, onboard the TARDIS; the only thing to go back to her real home - or rather, her first home back on the Powell Estate - is Jackie. And Mickey, of course.

But that's only visits to her mum's now. It's not 'going home.'

He knows she's made her choice: to stay with him, and that is perfectly fine with him.

Honestly? He doesn't know what he'd do if she left.

He ponders all of this as he walks to his own room. He knows it's more than likely that lots of her stuff has found its way into here, too. A place where no other companion has been before, he chuckles to himself.

Yet it's where he finds Rose. Sleeping, in his bed. Well, he supposes she sees it as their bed now, if she automatically came in here rather than her own room.

Sure enough, not only is Rose asleep in here, but various belongings of hers are strewn across the floor. And her hairdryer's on the bedside table. And her pink bra is somewhere located on top of that cupboard, if the Doctor remembers correctly. He'll have to retrieve that later. He likes that one.

He walks over to her and gently sits on the bed. She must have felt the indent in the mattress however, as she immediately opens her eyes to gaze lazily up at him.

"Sorry. You go back to sleep, I didn't mean to wake you," whispers the Doctor.

"That's ok. What are you doing in here, anyway?" she mutters back, yawning widely.

"Weelll, let's see. What room is this? Oh, that's right. I must be in here because... it's my _bedroom_," he replies sarcastically, bit with a huge smile on his face.

"But you don't sleep."

"But you do."

"So what, you just gonna watch me sleep all night?"

"It's what I do every night, isn't it?"

"Oh. Is it? I thought perhaps you usually stay with me for a bit, then get up and, I dunno, 'tinker with the TARDIS' or something, for the rest of the night, and then - "

"- sneak back in and get into the same position as I was in when you fell asleep?" he interrupts.

"Yeah."

"Rose, I may be very impressive, but evidently, I can neither sneak into a room, nor a bed, without you noticing in your subconscious. I think you'd wake up the second I got out, let alone crept back in."

"But don't you get bored, just lying here watching me?" she asks, yawing again.

He brushes a strand of her hair from her face and tucks it behind her ear.

"Never. You're beautiful to watch, awake or asleep. Plus, you do offer some _wonderful _glimpses into your dreams, with all that talking in your sleep thing you do..." he says smugly.

She blushes bright red. Neither of them are sure why. Actually...they both know why. But they both decide to ignore it. Until, for some reason that she isn't really aware of, Rose begins the conversation.

"Really? Wasn't aware of that particular flaw..." Rose mutters.

"Oh, it's not a flaw. It's really quite interesting," he teases, "I remember once, you were talking about onions one minute, and then al fresco sex the next. I was fascinated."

Rose pulls the duvet up to hide her face.

"Oh _god..." _she mutters.

"And this other time, you started singing 'I'm a Believer' – I think we'd just watched Shrek – and then you gave the best impression of a donkey I've _ever _heard!"

She sinks lower under her mountain of covers, more embarrassed with every moment that passes.

"Oh, but the best thing ever was when you dreamt of us visiting the Planet of the Hats."

"Why on earth was that the best thing ever? There isn't even a 'Planet of the Hats,'" she inquires, voice muffled by the covers.

He pulls the duvet back, looks at her as sincerely as he can, leans in so that their noses are almost touching, and whispers:

"Because in the next moment – woah...you must've been grateful to me for taking you there, Rassilon knows why, you don't even wear hats ... but anyway... you...er...groped me, and said my name in the most seductive way imaginable," he laughs when Rose rolls onto her front in embarrassment, blushing again, "I was rather impressed at your coherency, actually," he trails his hand across the back of Rose's neck, then lowers the covers – quickly realising she isn't wearing any form of pyjamas - to trace the curvature of her spine, "Although, I had to use every ounce of my self-control to stop myself reading your mind right then. I was so tempted to find out what your dream was like..."

"Oh really?" Rose turns back around, giving the Doctor a very pleasant view of her bare chest. His hand continues along this changed route, deciding that it is, in actual fact, _impossible _to decide which part of Rose's very attractive body he loves the most.

"Yes," he murmurs.

"Well. I think it went something like this..."

And she proceeds to pull his lips to hers and snog him senseless. He shifts so that he is lying above her, and she makes short work of undoing his trousers.

He remembers something.

"Ah...erm...aren't you - ooohhh," he tries to concentrate, taking her hands and pinning them above her head by the wrists, out of the way. He clears his throat, "Aren't you supposed – ahh, Rose, stop distracting me...your hips are going to be the death of me one of these....where was I? Oh. You're supposed to be...to be...oh dear god, what's the word?...aha! _Sleeping?_"

Rose grins up at him.

"I'm not so tired anymore," she replies, glancing up at the Doctor's hands grasping hers by the wrists. She thinks perhaps they could...Well. No. Never mind. He'd never go for that, she's sure.

"You haven't slept for...um...over a day. You're...you're...human. You must, erm, must be tired."

She soon shuts him up with a forceful kiss on the lips. He momentarily loses focus about everything else going on in the universe and lets his grip on her hands loosen. She takes the opportunity...

Swiftly, their roles are reversed, and the Doctor's not in a position to argue. Not with a naked Rose straddling him.

And so, despite his claims about her sleepiness, she has her wicked way with him, and then finally falls asleep in his arms, sated and peaceful.

She is so beautiful. Does she know that?

He watches her eyes flicker beneath their lids. He wonders what she is dreaming of. He wonders if she will talk in her sle –

Aha. There it is. She's talking in her sleep again. She mumbles his name. He smiles.

He has never been so... he thinks for a moment, reaching into all his carefully catalogued memories...and no. Nope. He was right:

He has never been so happy.

The Doctor looks down at her. He loves her. He loves her golden blonde hair, her big brown eyes, her red lips, her hands that perfectly fit into his...he loves everything about her.

Her laugh, her bravery, her honesty. Her empathy, her kindness, her utter _awe_ at everything he shows her. He loves her. Every inch of her; body and soul.

"I'm really, truly, honestly, _completely_ in love with you," he barely whispers into her soft blonde hair.

She is asleep.

So she does not hear him.

And thus, she does not know.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Thanks for doing that. It was...interesting. And nice. It was nice of you to stand up for me. Weellll, speak up for me. I hated having to wear that tape across my mouth. I had a few words to say to that Emperor, I can tell you."

"You're welcome. God, now you've got use of your mouth again, you're never gonna stop talking, are you?"

"Well, I might. If I do this, instead..." he stops to pull her head towards his, and passionately snogs her, in front of everyone.

After a few minutes, Rose pulls back breathlessly.

"That's a nice way to thank me," she smiles, her tongue poking out between her teeth. He loves that smile.

"Yep! Seriously though, thank you, because you could have got punished for saying those things...although, they did seem to like you. I think it's 'cos you're blonde. They like blondes. Doubt they've ever punished a blonde."

"Yeah? Well, like I've said before: 'I'm just too good.'"

"Hmmm. What are you doing with me, then, eh?" he nudges her playfully.

"Doing my bit, you know, for charity - 'Welcome the weak and the needy' and all that jazz...."she declares, mock-serious.

"Hey! Weak and needy indeed. Look at me – I'm in the prime of life!"

"Suppose you look good for your age. To look at you now, I wouldn't have thought you've got the big 1000 coming up before you know it..."

"Oh. Oh don't say that. Don't, just...don't."

"What? Scared of getting older?"

"Yes."

"Why? You said you appear to get younger-looking each time you regenerate - "

" – yeah, but it doesn't change the fact that as soon as I reach the 'big 1000,' as you so delightfully put it, I'll officially be an old man."

Rose laughs at him and pulls him in for a kiss.

"Don't worry, old man. If you can still kiss like that, I'll still love you," she replies casually, as if she's simply telling him what they're having for dinner.

And his hearts ache at her words. "You won't _be_ here to love me."

She pulls back from their embrace and gives him a measured look.

Oops. He thinks he just ruined the atmosphere with that lovely drop back into reality. But it's the truth. In another 50 or 60 years, Rose will be dead. And he'll have to live on; alone. Alone and _old._

She wants to stay with him forever. She's aware that there is a difference in what the two of them can call 'forever,' and she doesn't want him to feel so alone when _her_ forever is up, but his continues. She looks at him warily, unsure of how to play this. She doesn't want him to suddenly get all distant and depressed.

"Doesn't change the fact that I'll still love you," she murmurs, "I'll love you 'til the end of the universe. Infinity and beyond!" she adds, smiling cheekily, trying to lighten the mood.

"Really? Well. That's something, I suppose," he says. Pausing to think about something suddenly, he then asks her something. "I never thought to ask, Rose, about what you think about religion and God and all that. Do you believe...do you think that there is a Heaven of some sort?"

They start to walk away from the crowded village, back up the hill to where the TARDIS is parked. Rose ponders his question for a few minutes without saying anything.

"I...I hope so. I mean, I know you're sort of a scientist rather than a theologist, but wouldn't you like to hope that there is some other – I dunno, irrational, illogical, impossible – dimension, where those we lose can look down on us and laugh at how stupid we all are for...for being so sad all the time? For wasting time..."

"Yes. Yes, that sounds right up my street – 'irrational, illogical, impossible' – I like it. Sounds like me. Might make that my new name, instead of the 'Oncoming Storm' – what do you think?"

Rose laughs at him. "I think you're crazy. I think I like that," she smiles and the Doctor grins back, "And I think that whatever happens to me, whether it be tomorrow or in fifty years time: whatever happens, it will all be worth it. Because this, being here with you, seeing all the amazing things we see – that's Heaven. And you can have happy memories of this, yeah? Happy memories of us? Of me?"

"Always," he whispers, and stops walking.

Suddenly, he picks her up and swings her around in his arms.

"Where do you want to go next, Rose Tyler?" he asks her, while she complains about him taking her by surprise and her subsequent dizziness.

She rescued the situation, he recognises. He would have carried on moping about the events sure to happen in the far, far future, and whinging about the unfairness of the universe and all its stupid rules of time. He would have insulted her species for its stupidly short lifetimes and insulted his own species for its stupidly _long _lifetimes. But with a few choice words and a smile to light a thousand suns, Rose prevented all the wallowing in self-pity stuff he used to frequently fall into. And now he wanted to take her somewhere special, to prove that he loved her to 'infinity and beyond' too.

"Oh...I don't know. Surprise me!" she laughs, and it's the most beautiful sound in the universe. He loves her laugh. He loves her.

In this moment, he doesn't ever really need to say it out loud, he rationalises, because she already knows.

Actions speak louder than words, anyway. And so they walk, hand in hand, back to the TARDIS, and when they get there, he sets course for the most beautiful place in the whole wide universe. To show his most beautiful Rose how much she means to him.

**A/N: Hellooooooo :) I hope you like the story so far. Please please please review so I can tell if you do or not...the comments have decreased chapter by chapter despite the visitor numbers seeming to rise, and I'm wondering if it's cos these chapters are not very good....so please review and let me know how I can improve for future chapters :D Thanks very much for reading, I hope it doesn't disappoint you :)**

**Having said that, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have constantly reviewed on every chapter - you're comments mean the world to me so thanks for being so BRILLIANTLY FANTASTIC and always commenting and offering advice!!! :) You know who you are!**

**(So all those who don't review...take a leaf out of their books :D lol. You know who you are too....*mwahaha* I have no idea if this emotional blackmail is actually working....but there we go :) Basically, review if you want, cos it makes me happy. And you want me to be happy, right? Yeah?? Don't you??? I hope you do *smiles cheekily* No pressure...)**

**Love to all Doctor/Rose shippers. And reviewers, of course ;P**

**Laura xxx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Oh!" she sighs happily, and it's all she can say in that moment. She's absolutely too stunned to speak a proper sentence.

The Doctor smiles. "Thought you'd like it."

"Like it? It's...it's _beautiful._ It's not even that...it's the most perfect...it's just...wow! Doctor, I love it."

He takes her hand and beams at her. "Good. 'Cos we are going to go and explore it."

They close the TARDIS doors behind them and walk forth into the paradise before their eyes. The silver trees sway in the breeze, and glint brightly in the burnt orange glow of the sunlight. The red mountains loom in the East, and the Bountiful Lagoon, with its purple waters, shimmers and ripples in the West.

They spend the day looking around, spotting some stunning alien flora and fauna, including something that looks like a rose, only more perfect. Like his perfect Rose. He picks one and puts it in her hair, his fingers brushing against her cheek lightly as he drops his hand. They smile at each other warmly.

They walk, hand-in-hand, and they laugh, and it's idyllic. Rose is sure she is getting a tan, and the Doctor is sure that she is the most stunning thing he can see, with the soft breeze caressing her hair and her eyes big and wide, taking in everything he shows her with a sense of awe about her that he cannot begin to comprehend.

She was worth a thousand beautiful planets to him...no. She was worth everything. The entire universe.

They walk towards the Lagoon, and when Rose stops, the Doctor stands close behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist. She brings her hands down to rest above his, and swallows thickly. She loves him standing so close, holding her so tight. But it is very distracting.

"Rose," he whispers, bending his head a little to reach down to her ear.

She shivers at his cool breath so close to her face. "Yes," she whispers back.

"I haven't been here in... in such a long time," he quietly confesses.

"Why not? It's the most beautiful place you've ever taken me."

"Because...because it reminds me of Gallifrey," he says softly, "And I couldn't bear it."

"Oh. Oh Doctor, I'm so sorry - "

"- it's nowhere near as beautiful as Gallifrey, of course. But the silver trees, and the suns, and everything...it's so similar. But Gallifrey...I... I wish I could take you there."

Rose can sense the emotion in his voice, and knows that if she looks at his eyes she'll see a far off look and unshed tears. She turns around to comfort him.

What surprises her is that he is looking right at her. Right into her eyes. She didn't think...usually, he never talks about Gallifrey, or his past. It's too difficult for him. He regrets so much. Or rather, he feels guilty, because he _can't _regret what he's done, because it was necessary. To end the War. She can't imagine what it must feel like to be responsible for your own planet – your own beautiful, beautiful planet – burning and dying...

So, she is surprised that his eyes don't have that haunted look like she's so used to. He's just...looking at her. Maybe he has finally come to terms with his loss, she thinks. Maybe he's ready to forgive himself.

Really, it's because he loves her. But she doesn't know that.

"Why now then?" she asks before she can stop herself, "Why have you come here now, if it hurts you to remember?"

He frowns slightly but smiles gently at the same time. It's a funny expression. He looks bemused.

He doesn't really know what to say. So he goes for the simplest explanation possible.

"You," he murmurs quietly, but in a tone that says _isn't it obvious?_

"Me?" Rose asks, disbelieving.

"Yep."

"Oh. Why?"

"Because...because it's beautiful, and I wanted you to see it."

"Doctor, you didn't need to - "

"And seeing things with you...weeelll, you make me see things...differently. _Better_."

"I do?"

"Yep."

"How?"

"I don't know. You just do. Because you're...you."

"Oh..." Rose doesn't know what to say.

"It's just, when you go through so many years of being alone, after companions coming and going, and you grow older and less patient and less kind and more lonely...and then someone comes along...someone with such youth and enthusiasm and awe at the world, someone who makes you feel alive again..." he pauses and glances down, averting his eyes from hers, "...makes you want to show her everything that's beautiful in the universe, because she's so worth it..."

Rose gasps at this and bites her lip nervously, blushing when his eyes raise to meet hers once more.

He continues, "...and because she's made you better, and more patient, more kind and _so much less_ lonely. It's...it's...Rose, being with you..." he trails off, only just realising what he's been confessing. Oh god. He has to tell her.

"...yeah?" she prompts. She's speechless; her heart is beating way too fast and she can't breathe properly...his words, what he is saying, it's almost like he...

"It's...it's..." he trails off again. He can't find the words. No words are enough. Not in this language or a billion others.

"What, Doctor?"

"Oh, you know. It's pretty amazing," he replies, wincing at his own words. Because those words don't describe the half of it. He mentally curses himself for not expressing his feelings better.

But Rose laughs lightly, _happily_. "Good. I think so, too," she says. And she really, really does. And it doesn't matter that he didn't say what she thought he possibly could have said, he was an ordinary human man. Because he's the Doctor. And whatever he says makes her smile. Even when he insults her species. And she wouldn't want it any other way.

"Yes. That's good; that's very good," he replies, "Brilliant, in fact!"

"Doctor?"

"Yes, Rose?"

"You know what?"

"What's that?"

"You're a bit of an old romantic really, aren't you?"

He smiles. "Suppose I am, yeah."

"So..."she says, a little nervously.

"So...?"

"So...kiss me, you big banana."

"Oh! Banana, eh? Nice choice of wor - "

"- Doctor! Don't get distracted," Rose interrupts.

"Oh. Whoops, sorry."

And with that, he kisses her, and the suns shine even brighter in the orange-coloured sky, just for them.

*******

Rose wanted to swim in the purple water. So she did. And after a few splashes and a bit of whining, she finally pulled him in with her. Literally. He'd been annoyed at first – his suit had gotten all wet – but he soon splashed her, chasing her around the lake quickly, playfully ducking her under the water once he caught her in his arms. And his prize was a kiss. Several kisses, in fact. Which was rather brilliant, he thought. He was almost (very,_ very_) glad that Rose took the initiative to pull him into the water.

But what they are doing now, the Doctor is pretty sure, they could be arrested for. So, with great reluctance, he pulls away.

"Rose..." he says warningly.

"Mmm..." she replies, trying to reach for him again.

"I think we, erm, should stop this, before it gets out of hand," he says. She frowns. "If someone sees..." he offers by way of explanation.

"Right. Yes, of course, sorry," she says, shaking away her disappointment. Then something catches her eye. "Doctor, over there, by that picturesque little waterfall..."

"Yeah?" the Doctor says, swimming to the side of the lake, still fully clothed. Well, apart from his shirt being half-unbuttoned. When had Rose done that? he muses.

"Well, behind it, there's what looks like a cave..." she describes, following him through the purple water.

"Yeah...?"

"So can we go and take a look?" she asks.

"If you like," he replies dismissively, pulling Rose out of the water with him. He looks at her for a few moments, all wet and glorious and glistening in the sunlight, and then decides they really _should_ go explore some more, before he gets distracted again. "To the cave.." he murmurs firmly, more to himself than Rose, grabbing her hand and leading her the way.

*******

"So this was your plan all along then, eh?" he asks, trying to focus on his words as Rose unbuttons his shirt (that he only just re-buttoned a few moments ago, before approaching the waterfall).

She's pressing kisses to his neck rather distractingly.

She smiles mischievously at him. "We are in a cave behind a waterfall. Alone. On a beautiful day with the sun – _suns - _shining brightly outside. It's possibly the most perfect place we've ever been to, so it's definitely the most perfect place to -"

He cuts her off, showing her his agreement with a snog.

"So, you consent?" she says when she pulls away, grinning at him smugly.

He clears his throat. "Hmmm..." He scratches his chin. "Weeelll...." He pretends to consider this long and hard. "Most definitely," he finally answers.

"Good," she smiles.

And so it continues.

*******

Happy in their own little paradise - she and the Doctor snuggled together on the sandy surface by the Lagoon with the suns setting before their eyes - Rose tells herself that she doesn't need to him to be in love with her. This is good, what they have here, and she doesn't want to ruin it. So she won't expect him to ever tell her.

And the Doctor, he tells himself that she can't possibly be unaware of how in love with her he is, especially after the glorious day they have had today, so the words don't need to be said.

And so, with the miscommunication between them continuing for yet another day, he is still utterly stupid, and she is still completely blind.

Stuff of legend, indeed...

**A/N: Awww, these two really are oblivious...how silly of them. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter :D **

**Thanks so much for reviewing lots on the last chapter, it truly means a lot to me to hear what you think. Please continue to review each chapter if you like, hate, love, loathe etc etc, I love to hear your comments, and don't worry if it's critical either, cos I need to hear those too.**

**Thanks again to the amazing reviewers who inspire me to write more and more! ;P **

**Lots of ten/rose love, Laura xxxxx**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Helloooo, only me :D This chapter is set after The Idiot's Lantern. Hope you enjoy it! L x**

**Chapter 10**

"Congratulations, Doctor," Rose says, smiling cheekily at him as they arrive back at the TARDIS after defeating the Wire. She takes off her pale blue jacket and pink headband, slinging them over the railing.

She looks at him expectantly, hands on her hips.

Uh-oh. He knows that look. What's she thinking?

"Thanks," he replies nonchalantly. He thinks over today's events for a moment, and then asks: "What for?"

"For managing to get it wrong again. For taking us to 1950s _London_ rather than New York. You always get it mixed up don't you, eh?"

Anyone else, anyone but Rose, would probably say all that and mean it to be an accusation, an exasperation at his inability to land them in the correct place – anyone else would be ungrateful and annoyed. But the Doctor knew that Rose was just teasing him; she didn't really mind. That's why she's so brilliant. That's why he lo -

"And we still haven't seen Elvis," she adds, "Though, I reckon you're doing _that _on purpose. You're just worried he'll sweep me off my feet and I'll be all taken in by his singing, and chest hair and the, um, hip thrusts..."

The Doctor briefly looks a little worried. Then he shakes it off, and pretends not to be concerned with the thought that someone other than _him _would be able to impress Rose. He then wonders if it's normal that he feels so possessive. After all, as he'd told Rose over and over again, Time Lords don't get jealous.

However, he had just been about to suggest trying to find Elvis again, but now...

Maybe meeting Elvis won't be the next stop, after all.

"Nah," he says, clearing his throat, "He wouldn't...he couldn't...I'm far better," he reassures himself rather than her, "Anyway, I can sing quite nicely, and I have chest hair! Not quite so much, granted, but a fairly sufficient amount, I like to think."

"Hmmm, yeah you're right. I like your chest..." she trails her finger over his chest lightly, and he shivers despite his layers of clothing, "_But..._the question is, how well can you thrust your hips?" she teases, pressing flush against him briefly, before walking backwards away from him, giggling at how the Doctor's eyes widen at her words and movements.

"Er...weelll...I suppose I'd have to ask you, wouldn't I?" he retorts.

Rose blushes; despite her own teasing, he always manages to make _her _embarrassed. Hmmm. Payback..."Out of ten? I'd say...four?" she replies, trying to keep a straight face.

"Four? _Four?_ I've never been so insulted in all my – tell you what. Why don't I prove..." he says, as he walks towards her dangerously, backing her against the console. Her heart speeds up and she can barely breathe due to their proximity. "...to you..." he continues. She smoothes her dress down, and looks at her shaking hands. After all this time, and all the times they had done this before, she still gets completely dizzy and nervous whenever he looks at her like that. "...just how good - "

He lifts her up, and... uh-oh, Rose thinks. " – Doctor," she interrupts, as he balances her between himself and the console. She has something to tell him, but she locks her legs around his waist nonetheless, which is rather distracting for the both of them. She clears her throat, "Doctor, I think..."

"What's wrong?" he asks, not letting go of her, but pressing a soft kiss to her jaw. He wants to kiss her properly. He wants to kiss every inch of her. He had seen her lose her beautiful face today, he thinks, as he traces her features with his hand, and he couldn't bear it. What would he do if he lost her? She's everything to him. And he almost lost her today. How long would they have before -

"I think...I think, just now, when you hoisted me up...you ripped my dress," she says, enjoying his touch, but smirking slightly.

- He pulls back to look at her, snapping himself out of his own thoughts about her inevitable mortality. "Oh. Did I? Sorry. Oh. I like that dress. Reminds me of - "

" – our little trip to Vegas? Me too. Finally got you to buy me something didn't I?" she says, laughing.

"Yep. Good choice, wasn't it?"

"Oh yes. Very pink," she smiles, "You have an eye for fashion. Just look at your own wardrobe...some rather wondrous pieces of clothing in there. Like that long scarf. Oh, and that multicoloured coat! Beautiful," she says sarcastically.

"You do like to tease me, Rose Tyler. But I'll have you know that at the time, it was...no, actually, it was never fashionable. You're right. It's all a bit horrendous rather than wondrous, isn't it?"

"I dunno. I kind of like that velvet jacket. Very dapper."

"You would," he laughs, "Dapper; yes I was quite dapper that time around. You'd have liked it. It has to be said though; I didn't have much taste in previous regenerations, however much I thought the contrary at the time."

"But you look nice now," she comments, eyeing him up and down rather obviously. She accidently licks her lips without realising, though.

The Doctor sees this, and chuckles.

"I have better taste _this_ time around. In more ways than one," he says, looking at her intently.

"That's not a dig at your previous girlfriends, is it?" she says, laughing.

"What? No. Rose, I told you before, I've not..." Oh, how can he put this?

"...What?" she asks curiously.

"I've never...you know. Weeelll, not for years. Centuries."

"Well, for a man who's been out of practice for centuries, you're _pretty_ good."

"Good at what?" he asks, grinning cheekily.

Rose takes a deep breath, a hundred glorious memories filling her mind. "Everything. _Hip thrusting, _even_._ You're a ten, really." she says earnestly.

"Ah, but that's only because of you," he chuckles, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Oh yeah?" she retorts.

"Yep. I'm only good because you're very, _very _brilliant." He presses a gentle kiss to her nose.

"Aw, thanks," she laughs, "I guess together...well, we are pretty hot, aren't we?"

The Doctor laughs. That's something he never thought he'd hear. But it's true. "Oh yes," he agrees. As if to start proving that particular theory for the thousandth time, he leans down to kiss her. He therefore feels quite bereft when she leans back from his mouth. "What's up?" he asks her. It's not like her to shun a kiss from him...

"Nothing. It's just...you know that it's not just...I mean, for me, this...us...it means..." she trails off, flushing at her words. She has the feeling she shouldn't have started that sentence.

"I know," he answers, staring at her with what other people can see is a passionate devotion for the woman he's looking at.

To Rose...well, she doesn't know. Perhaps she is blind. Perhaps he just needs to tell her.

"Good," she replies, relieved, and makes to kiss him. But this time, the Doctor is the one to pull back. "Doctor...?" she asks, confused.

"Rose," he murmurs, and he thinks he might just say it. But then he looks deep into her eyes and bottles it. After all, she knows, and he's not one of these soppy human guys who say it all the time, even when they don't mean it.

He means it. He knows he should say it. But he's _such _coward...

He changes his tactics. He lightens the mood. The moment is lost.

"Do you know, in the last – what...five months? – I've, erm, danced with you more times than I've _ever_ done before? In nine hundred years..." he says instead, making Rose giggle in his arms.

"Really? I would've thought that with all that time to spare – and all those _women_ out there – that would have been unlikely. You could've been the Casanova of the Time Lords. That's better than the Oncoming Storm. Imagine the Daleks calling you _that..."_ she says. But she's secretly quite glad. It may be selfish of her, but she likes the idea that she is one of only a few, very special...

"I'm not _Jack, _Rose," he insists firmly.

"No. No, you're not. What was it you said it was like for him? Oh yeah – 'so many species, so little time,'" she giggles, "That's just wrong. I mean..._aliens..."_

The Doctor smirks at this, "Erm...Rose...?"

"What?"

"I'm an alien. And you're an alien; to me, anyway. This is, in actual fact, inter-species - "

" - Ok, ok, I get it," she cuts him off, and then thinks for a moment. "It's funny, though, 'cos I never really thought of us as being... like before, when I used to want to be like this, to...well, never mind. You know what I mean. I suppose it's 'cos you look human, so it didn't seem...wrong."

"You mean, you look Time Lord. Weelll, lady. We came first."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." she smiles cheekily when he gives her a pointed look.

"Anyway, it's not wrong. Weeelll, I suppose it is, strictly speaking – if the Time Lords were still around, I'd be...weeelll, never mind that. Too late now, anyway."

"You broke all the rules," Rose mutters, echoing his words from a while ago.

"Yep. That I did. And you know what?" he says, leaning his forehead against hers again, enjoying the feel of her quick breaths fluttering over his face. They are both silent for a moment, as she brings her hand up to stroke his cheek.

"What's that?" she eventually replies, breathing shakily. He's trailing a hand down her arm and she shivers involuntarily. And the way he's looking at her...she gets the impression he wants to tell her something.

"I'm bloody glad I did," he grins at her.

"Good...me too," she replies, and shifts against him slightly. They both chuckle at the sound of her dress ripping again. "Oops."

"Now, do you want me to fix your dress?" he asks, moving his hands to feel for the tear.

Rose reaches for his hands, currently around her calves, and moves them up to her bum. "Nah, it's ok. I'd prefer it if you just ripped it off, to be honest," she says seductively.

"Really? But it's so nice! You've only worn it twice," he insists, swiftly becoming amused by his accidental rhyme.

"Doctor, honestly," she sighs over-dramatically, "Look, you can buy me a new one tomorrow if you like."

"Hmmm. Yes, ok, that sounds like a good idea."

"Quite."

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his glasses, putting them on in one swift motion. He looks at her closely, as if examining something, and Rose flushes under his gaze. He smiles, and pushes a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. It's an intimate gesture she's so used to, and yet Rose still struggles to breathe.

The Doctor uses one hand to locate the zip of her dress, his right hand remaining on her bottom, squeezing gently. On finding the zip, he promptly ignores its function, instead ripping the seam apart. He proceeds to tear the front of her dress open, revealing her pink bra.

Rose gasps; her eyes dilate. She kisses her way up his neck, and when he runs a hand down her chest teasingly, she accidently bites his ear. He leans down to her and captures her lips passionately. Moving his hands to stroke her ribs, he makes her shiver delightedly.

Suddenly, she grabs hold of him by his hair, and presses her body upwards, every inch of their bodies now touching one another. His hands tighten around her waist and neither of them can think straight when they finally take things further...

*******

...She breaks their kiss briefly to inhale some oxygen.

"Blimey," the Doctor gasps feverishly, "Who would have thought it? Rose likes it rou - "

She puts a hand across his mouth to cut him off.

"Doctor?"

"Yrmfs?" he says, the word muffled by her hand.

"Shut up," she grins at him. She moves her hand away.

"Ok," he says, nodding in agreement.

And as the universe spins around them, she doesn't let him speak for quite some time, until there are stars in their eyes for the fourth time tonight.

*******

She's so beautiful; so perfect, he thinks.

"You're so beautiful; so perfect," he tells her.

"Mmmm," she mumbles into his chest in response. She's almost asleep. She's exhausted.

"I could've lost you today," he murmurs into her hair softly.

"Didn't, though. All's well that...etc" she replies, shifting to get comfortable. She's too tired to talk. Why won't he just let her sleep?

He traces patterns on her hip lazily. Patterns that mean things. Things he can't seem to speak aloud.

"I...Rose, I can't believe...I can't believe that I actually almost tried to stop myself from - " he stops when he sees that Rose is already asleep. "Ah. Typical _human_. Always falling asleep at the most important bit..." he mutters to himself, and then chuckles lightly.

And then, he does what once was the most improbable of things.

He falls asleep with the woman he loves more than anything in the whole wide, scary universe, vowing that he will always keep her safe.

No matter what.

Because she is his. And he loves her. Ripped dress and all.

**A/N: Hiya again :D Hope you liked the chapter. Hope it wasn't too...you know...I just couldn't resist putting the stuff with the dress in ;P lol. Thanks for all your reviews so far. Let's keep 'em coming, yeah? Lol :D I know, I know. I'm greedy. Mwahahaha...**

**But I love you all,**

**Laura xxx**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

They are walking through a dark jungle on a distant planet at the far edge of the solar system. They are on the way back to the TARDIS after a very exciting, but very dangerous, adventure involving some giant beetle-like creatures. And right now, despite him holding her close to him protectively, her hand grasped in his...they are arguing.

"Just because I saved the day this time, doesn't mean you have to get all grumpy..."

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are. You're sulking. Because I worked it out before you did."

"I'm not _sulking. _Time Lords - "

"_Don't sulk?_ Yeah, whatever," she scoffs disbelievingly.

"You can't even see my face, it's too dark. Trust me, I'm not sulking, Rose."

"Yeah you are. I can tell. It's because you feel silly. Because it was _so _obvious, and you missed it."

"It wasn't _that_ obvious."

"It really was. I can't believe I outsmarted a _Time Lord. _Me, a 'stupid ape!' Who would have thought?"

He tightens his grip on her hand suddenly and Rose is surprised. "You're not a 'stupid ape,' Rose."

"You said it, not me," she counters.

"Doesn't count. That was back when I was different. And even then, I didn't _mean _it. I didn't ever think that of you. I just said it to cover up the fact that I..."

Love you, he thinks.

"What, Doctor?" she asks. He traces the back of her hand with his thumb, and she shivers slightly.

"Weelll, that I...thought that you were brilliant. Yes, that's right. I actually thought you were brilliant, but I couldn't say that at the time because I was trying to, weeelll...erm..."

_Stop_ myself loving you, he thinks.

"Pretend you didn't like me?" Rose supplies. She can feel his breath on her ear, shaky and unsteady; so unlike him.

"Hmmm, well, yeah, something like that," he murmurs. He pulls her closer to him. "Don't want you to fall over one of these branches," he explains, as if to justify their close proximity. He's not fooling either of them.

"Well anyway, looks like I'm a hell of a lot better at calming down a flock of Sinays with a few choice words than _you, _so I must be brilliant," she says chuckling, poking him in the chest playfully.

"Yeah, well, I'm _much _better at...erm...chess..." he argues, feeling triumphant.

Rose stops walking and turns around to face him. She can just about make out his features in the dim light. She can see his eyes quite clearly, so she looks into them deeply.

"Chess?" she laughs, still looking at him incredulously, "Why is that the most impressive thing you can up with? You're a bloody Time Lord with a Time Machine. You know of everything that has ever been, everything that currently exists, and everything that ever could be..."

The Doctor nods in agreement. He is a genius, after all. "True - "

" ...You can speak billions of languages. You can alto-quantify the astronomical-retrograde and divide the time-space continuum..."

The Doctor frowns. He is a genius, but he can't quite do that. He's pretty sure that an 'astronomical-retrograde' does not exist anywhere in this universe. "Rose - "

"...You probably _told_ whatsit-Rutherford how to split the atom, and tipped Einstein off about the theory of relativity..."

The Doctor looks at the floor sheepishly. How did she know that... "How did - "

"..._And _you're always boasting about how you gave Newton hints about gravity, built the first pyramid _and_ originated the rabbit out of the hat trick all on the same day. And as for your weird knowledge of _wheelbarrows..."_ she comments, ticking off the list with each finger on her hand.

The Doctor beams at her last comment. "Yes, that's quite useful, that. But...your point?"

"Basically, my point is, just because _for once_ I know more about something than you do, and am _extremely _better at it than you... it doesn't mean you have to try and rescue your pride by claiming you're better at _chess. _I reckon there are _billions _of humans that are better at chess than me. But only you can do all that other stuff."

"So, _basically, _what you're saying is: 'I'm the most impressive bloke you've ever met?'" he says, one eyebrow raised and a smile playing over his lips.

Rose sighs. Great. She's _basically_ just inflated his ego three times the size...

"Basically, yeah," she replies, trying to look annoyed.

"Hmmm. Good," he says, grinning widely. He loves that he is who he is and that Rose loves who he is. He loves Rose. He leans down and kisses her forehead, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "Cos I happen to think that you're quite impressive yourself, you know."

"Evidently," she smiles cheekily into his neck.

He laughs quietly, and they both seem to forget that they are standing in the middle of an alien jungle, in the middle of the dark. For now, it's just him and her, her and him, and nothing else matters.

They stand there a while, close in their tight hug, and he slips his hands under the hem of her top, beginning to trace the outline of certain Gallifreyan symbols on her lower back.

Rose notices his touch immediately, and mumbles something into his neck.

"What's that?" he asks.

She pulls her head back a little. "I said, I was wondering...sometimes, it feels like you're writing, I dunno, ancient words, with your fingers...against my skin, and I keep meaning to ask what it is." The Doctor pauses in his movements. "Not that I don't like it, or anything," Rose says hurriedly, "I don't want you to st...I didn't mean for you to stop."

He resumes his motions but swallows nervously, aware that he should probably talk right about now.

"Doctor?" Rose prompts when he is silent for a few minutes.

He clears his throat. "Rose, the writing, it's Gallifreyan. It's - "

" - Oh," Rose says simply, followed by an apology. She senses that this is difficult for him to talk about.

"Don't be sorry. Why are you sorry?"he asks curiously.

"Well, I just...I shouldn't have asked about it."

"Rose..." the Doctor says, chuckling lightly. She always feels like she shouldn't hear his feelings, like she is intruding or something. It's funny; before they got together properly she always used to ask him stuff about himself and his past, questioning him when he kept secrets and all that.

But recently, it's as if she is frightened that if she asks too much, he'll back away from her and become a closed book again; furtive and forbidden. Which is ridiculous, really, when you consider the things he's revealed recently. His name, for one thing. No one else knows that.

But she doesn't know that she's the only one who does.

For once in his life he wants to share things with another person, rather than hide everything away. And he knows that she will listen, if he talks, but she will not pressurise him. She waits for him to tell her things rather than interrogating him. He really appreciates that, because truthfully, he doesn't want her to know about all the terrible things he has done, and all the guilt and horror he carries with him; he is scared that she will hate him for it.

But because she's like that, so patient and understanding, he gets to be a coward all the time and not say the one thing that he really needs to tell her; the one thing that she will never ask nor expect him to say; the thing that she needs to hear the most but believes to not be true.

The greatest secret of them all.

"I suppose I already knew that it was your language, though. I dunno why I asked, really..."

"How did - "

" - Well, it's the same circle-y swishy pattern, like the symbols on the console screen."

"Yes, of course. Except, well, these are a bit more personal than the symbols on the console. They are all calculations and scientific equations and things; this..." he moves his left hand further up her back, drawing the words, demonstrating, "...is much nicer."

"Yeah?" she says, with approval evident in her tone of voice.

"Yeah. It's all very romantic," he whispers, his breath fluttering over her face.

"Of course," she replies. But she's not sure whether she believes him. She thinks she does.

She doesn't ask what it means, afraid to push him too far. So he doesn't tell her.

Therefore, Rose does not know that the beautiful patterns which he caresses over her body so often actually mark the words of the most ardent love there has ever been - and will ever be - in the entire universe.

He is her Doctor, and she is his Rose. And no one could love someone more than he loves her. And that, quite simply, is fact.

**A/N: Hiya! Hope you like this chapter :D I know nothing much happened, but I figured they could have a few quiet moments for once :P Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing the story so far. **

**I'm going to go write some more chapters now, to try and forget the simply **_**wonderful **_**new series, and the absolutely **_**fantastic **_**River Song. (Please note the sarcasm. Although, I suppose that episode could've been worse. At least there was a reasonably good plot and the Weeping Angels were in it. But it was nowhere near as good as Blink. Anyway...I'll go before I go off on a tangent about how David will always be my Doctor, and RTD will always be the best writer, and Steven Moffat should be very worried if he decides a certain someone is to be another certain someone's WIFE because if that is the case then I shall be a bit (very) angry and may decide to slap him, Jackie Tyler style :D Whoops, I went off on the tangent anyway. Oh dear. I'll go now.)**

**Only one thing left to say: despite the fact that I'll always love Doctor Who, I still maintain that the D/R love story was the most brilliant story of them all. But there you go; I'm just a soppy romantic. And I'm most definitely ****not**** ashamed of that, so no one try to make me :D**

**Drose Forever!!! Lol :P**

**Laura xxx**

**p.s. So sorry for this massively long A/N. But you know, it's late and I'm tired and I'm watching DT on youtube and that always make me go all gushy lol. Haha, I'd be very surprised if any of you actually read it to be honest. So all this could be pointless. Ah well. I need some sleeeeeppp....*Zzzzzz***


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Rose knew they shouldn't have done that.

She told him, as soon as they arrived on the planet Vria, that maybe it was best for them not to go down to the bottom of that spooky looking valley, with the creepy-looking ghost town in its centre.

She was only joking, of course. As if she would have been able to resist checking out something eerie and suspicious. The Doctor had looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and they had both collapsed into immediate laughter. He had grabbed her hand and she had grinned at him and then they ran, ran, ran; just like usual.

And now they were running _again_. For their lives. _Again._

"How far back to the TARDIS?" Rose asks, panting heavily as he pulls her along at high speed.

"Oh, not long now. Keep running," he urges, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"Think we lost it..." Rose says, looking behind her. The Doctor comes to a sudden stop, and Rose, still looking over her shoulder, crashes into him. She takes a step back and tries to catch her breath. "Whoops, sorry."

"Quite alright," he replies, seemingly distracted.

"Doctor?"

"Hmmm?"

"Why'd you stop?" she asks, turning to look around them for any signs of the creature.

He brings his eyes back to hers. "Oh. Weeelll, thought you could do with a rest. And you were right; we have lost it. Obviously couldn't keep up with two fit, agile - "

- And that's when they hear an almighty ROAR.

"Ah," he says, tugging his ear.

"Maybe not, then," comments Rose.

"Shush shush shush," he tells her, putting a finger to his lips and pulling her backwards with him to hide behind a tree.

"Yeah, 'cos this is gonna work," she says sarcastically, "What if it - "

"Shush!" he commands.

Rose lowers her voice to a whisper, "What if it can sense our breathing, though? Hiding in the bushes isn't gonna save us."

"Would you rather run another twenty four miles?"

It takes half a millisecond for him to read the look on her face and promptly conclude, "Thought not. Now be _quiet..."_

"But - "

"Rose!" he whispers urgently.

"Sorry."

They hear some rustling about ten metres away.

"Keep as still as possible," he murmurs into her ear, leaning down to her. He moves himself so he is standing right in front of her, her back against the tree trunk. At the sound of more rustling, he closes the distance between their bodies and leans into her - in order to protect her from the creature, of course.

"Ok," she whispers back, "Kinda comfortable anyway," she adds, glancing down at his hands on her waist, which had, of their own accord, dipped under the hem of her shirt slightly.

She's smiling cheekily at him. He eyes her expression, warily raising an eyebrow, but he's suppressing a chuckle. "Rose. This is for your own protection. In no way am I taking advantage of the situation in order to touch you," he lies.

"Sure you're not," she smirks quietly.

She brings her hands up between them to grasp the lapels of the Doctor's coat, and reaches up to face him at eye level. His other eyebrow shoots up. He thinks she's going to kiss him. Right here, in the middle of a forest, with a monster in hot pursuit of them.

"Rose..." he says warningly. It was unlike Rose, in the face of imminent death, to get so – _oh. _He finally notices that she isn't looking at him, or even his lips, but at what is behind his left shoulder.

"Doctor...I think, perhaps, it's time to RUN!"

So they do. The Plinosauraus leaps out of its hiding place to follow them, bounding through the valley quickly.

The Doctor knows that they can't out-run it now, so he quickly pulls Rose down a rocky path into a small cave, hidden amongst the undergrowth. He sighs with relief when he sees the Plinosauraus run on in a straight line, in the direction they would've taken.

"Woah, that was close," Rose breathes out heavily behind him, her hands on her knees as she slides down the side of the cave in exhaustion.

He spins around to look at her. "Yep. Now we've got to just find a way to sneak back out of the valley and back to the TARDIS."

"Hmmm, about that - you said earlier that we weren't far from it. Then just now you said we'd have to run for another twenty four miles - "

"- Yeah, I lied."

"Before or just now?"

"Before. I knew your sense of direction was pants, so I thought I'd just placate you with the knowledge that we were nearly there."

"Thanks. Great. God, did we really walk that far today? It didn't seem like it."

"I suppose saving a civilisation in between all the running breaks it up a bit, eh?"

"Yeah, I suppose," she replies, grinning at him. "Although, just wondering, how do the villagers survive with that dinosaur out there on the rampage all the time..."

"Rose, I told you before, that isn't _actually _a dinosaur. It's a -"

"Retrofiliated Clonified Histiminal Artiform. Yeah, I know."

He's surprised that she can recall its real name. He hadn't thought she'd been listening earlier, actually. He thought that seeing as she completely ignored his warnings about climbing that evil-looking tree, and then ignored him telling her not to reach out and grab that golden apple...well, he thought that she had ignored the rest of his rambling too. So that's surprising. "Exactly!" he exclaims proudly.

"But it bloody sounds like a dinosaur. And it definitely _looks_ like a dinosaur."

"Weeelll, I sound and look like a human, but I'm not, so you know..." he comments, shrugging his shoulders.

She looks him up and down for a few moments from her position on the floor of the cave. For a moment, he notices an air of mischief, and possibly seduction, flicker across her face, but then she shakes her head free from _those_ thoughts and clears her throat. "Suppose so. But anyway, why doesn't it attack the inhabitants? It's very unusual for us to be running away from the creature that wasn't _anything_ to do with the universe-saving we did today."

"No idea. Perhaps they're just used to each other," he replies, smiling softly.

"Awww, that's cute. Living together in harmony and all that," she grins, and he grins back.

She's so beautiful, looking all flushed and happy, and he can't resist.

Without warning, the Doctor is kneeling on the floor in front of her, and her lips are pulled against his. His hands tangle in her hair and Rose is bemused, but certainly not complaining, about his unexpected movements. She gets herself up onto her knees too, and pulls him tighter against her body.

"What was that for?" she asks breathlessly when they part.

"Oh, no reason. Just because..." he trails off.

"Because?" she asks, bemused.

"Because you're beautiful, and I wanted to kiss you...and I knew you would let me," he smiles wolfishly, winking at her.

"Well," she says, pretending to be offended, "Maybe I won't let you next time, then."

"What, you saying you didn't like it?" he asks her incredulously.

"No, but if you think you can just take, take, take..." she grins cheekily.

"You'd never have the willpower to refuse a snog from me. I, however would be much better; I have _eons_ of self-control," he chuckles. "Had a lot of practice - before we, y'know - what with you being so...you." He thinks back to before Rose had battered down the boundaries; before he had _lost _control and broken the rules. For a year when he had been a different man, and then a few months when he became a new one, he had wanted to touch her, wanted to be with her, but he denied himself the chance to have her. He shudders. Life is so much better now he _isn't_ so self-controlled, he concludes.

She raises an eyebrow and considers commenting on that last bit. She decides against it, instead saying, "Oh yeah? Wanna bet?"

"Nah." Truthfully, he doesn't think he actually _could _resist her, not with the memories of how nice it feels to be with her all the time.

"What, you scared I might win?" she asks cheekily.

"Nope. No, definitely not. You can't possibly win this. You'll be begging for me to kiss you within ten _minutes."_

He hopes.

"We'll see."

"What?"

"We'll see," she repeats.

"What, we are actually going to play the game of who can resist the longest?" He doesn't like the sound of that.

"Yep. Don't you think you can do it?" she teases smugly.

"No, no, of course I can. I'm just worried for you. You know, your human hormones and all that..." he says, earning a smack on the arm from Rose. "What? It's not my fault that you're gonna get _very_ frustrated."

She smiles mischievously. "Oh, don't you worry about me. I'll be just fine on my own," she says, winking at him as she stands up.

He stands up too, with his eyebrows raised to his hairline, and follows her out of the cave. "That was uncalled for," he mutters. He takes a deep breath. "Maybe this is going to be harder than I thought."

She turns around suddenly, and stands on her tiptoes to whisper seductively into his ear: "Oh, it's definitely gonna be harder than you thought..." She trails her left hand down his body lightly. Rather low, he thinks. Then, with her tongue poking out of her mouth joyously, she abruptly turns and walks away from him.

He gulps. This new side of Rose he hadn't seen before...he sort of liked it. But no; she'll be pleading for him to kiss her once they got back to the TARDIS. And he'd show her...he would refuse... What will she think to that, eh?

Actually, he reasons, she'll probably just shrug it off and walk away. So he'd have to comply. She's always too irresistible.

But currently she was laughing at his dumbfounded expression wickedly. The minx...

_Oh._ He remembers something. He almost got distracted there for a minute.

"Rose, be careful, we really don't want to run in to our friend again," he warns her, fearing the non-dinosaur would return.

"Why not? We've got nothing better to do," she smirks.

He frowns at her, and she giggles helplessly, reaching for his hand. He holds his hand away from her.

"Oh, Rose, are you sure that's allowed? No cheating, now."

"What? Of course it's allowed. I can hold your hand. We've always held hands. What's wrong with holding hands?" she says, aware that she's sounding a little panicked. Truth is, she has to at least hold his hand now, or it doesn't feel right. It's become a habit, a necessity, a _domestic _sort of gesture. But it didn't mean anything. Not really. Oh, of course it does...

"Well, if you're touching me at all, maybe you won't be able to resist taking things further..."

He hopes.

"I'm not _completely _obsessed with you, you know."

Except she is.

"No?" he asks disbelievingly.

"No," she lies.

"Oh." He sounds deflated.

"Oh?" She tries not to laugh.

"'Oh' nothing. I just thought you _were_ obsessed with me, that's all. I feel a bit cheated, actually."

She grins at him. "You _want _me to be obsessed with you?"

"Yes," he admits, tugging his ear awkwardly.

"Oh. Ok."

"Ok?"

"Yes. Ok."

"Good."

"Good. Are you obsessed with me?"

He considers this for a moment. Truthfully, he is. But should he really tell her that?

"Yes."

She feels elated at his answer. At least this is some sort of indication that this thing between them isn't _completely _one-sided, on her part.

They look at each other for a moment, sizing each other up, before bursting out into hysterical laughter. Then he quickly puts a finger to her mouth and murmurs for her to 'shush.'

She thinks he's heard the non-dinosaur again.

He hasn't.

His head gravitates towards hers, and Rose is confused. He removes his finger from its position on her lips and replaces it with his lips.

But Rose isn't fooled for long.

"Oi!" she shrieks, pulling back swiftly, "No cheating!"

"Sorry, sorry. I just -"

" - Couldn't resist?" Rose smirks.

"_No_, I just wanted to _test_ you. Well done, you passed," he says, going for indignantly, trying to keep a sincere expression on his face, but ending up sounding weary and miserable.

And Rose notices there is no enthusiasm in his voice. In fact, he sounds rather disappointed. She laughs at his daft expression and grabs his hand, just like always, and they run for miles, all the way back to the TARDIS.

**A/N: Hellllloooo Readers :D I hope you are still enjoying the story! It's my birthday tomorrow – the big ****16****, woohoo!!! – so I would be very, very grateful if you'd review. You know, as a birthday present? Lol, I'll give you some virtual birthday cake...? ;P**

**Love Laura xxx**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

They both flop down on the jump seat with a relieved sigh when they make it back to the console room in the TARDIS.

"Finally...home," she says, sighing contentedly.

He smiles happily. 'Home.' He likes that she says that, now, about the TARDIS. About being with him.

She glances at him out of the corner of her eye, trying to work out whether he's ready to end their game or not. She'd rather like him to surrender soon. She wants to kiss his lazy, _happy _smile and snuggle into his embrace and never let go. She wants to feel his eyes gaze at her with that fervent desire she's seen glimpses of; she wants to feel his hands sweep over her body; she wants to feel his tongue sweep across her lips, teasing her, tasting her. She wants to feel him wrap his strong, safe arms around her tightly; she wants him to feel her wrap her legs around his waist; and she wants to feel him and her and her and him and ohhhh dear...she wasn't going to be able to resist for much longer.

She wonders how they coped before, with all this hand-holding and not much else. She remembers craving for more, and yet she also remembers being fairly content with what she had with him at the time, believing her dreams to be impossible - those fantasies far out of reach. And here she is now, knowing, _knowing, _what it was all like, to have him just like in her dreams, but _better _and _more,_ and now they were competing in this silly, unnecessary contest to see which of them could hold back the longest. And she knows the Doctor will win, because he has better control, he's a _Time Lord_; she knows that, though she sometimes hates it. She wants him to be as completely disorientated with her as she is with him.

He strokes the back of her hand with his thumb idly and his mind drifts off into a wonderful reverie relating to their breakfast time this morning, which, on reflection, is probably not the best thing to be thinking about right now, if he is to keep his emotions controlled and indifferent to the way she is biting her lip and freely roving her eyes over his body out of the corner of her eye (yes, he notices. Every time.) But oh, this morning, that had been fun. Lots of fun. Never done it like that before. He sort of feels like re-enacting it. But Rose's silly game would put a stop to that. And _last night..._wow. That had been lots of fun, too. All that time, before, when they were 'just friends,' and they never...and now...he can't help but think of her all the time, her and him and everything and every possible thing, every possible _way..._Oh dear. He frowns. Since when have Time Lords ever felt like _this?_ How does she do this to him? Why? _Why_? How? It's a mystery. A bigger mystery than him, even, and that's saying something.

She's just a girl. An ordinary, human, insignificant, not-especially-bright twenty year old girl, who just happened to stumble into this life by complete accident and...and...he should never have fallen in...how did she make him? Why would he pick her? She's not remotely important...she isn't his equal...

Except she is, he thinks to himself firmly. _Rassilon_, she is.

She's not just a girl. He knows that. She's nowhere near ordinary. She may be human, but she is certainly not insignificant - not to her own people or a million others whom she's saved.

And not to him.

And she is bright. So bright, brighter than she ever could imagine. The things she sees, the things she does – always working it out, whether with a few hints from him or even _before_ he works it out himself. She always knows what to say, what to do and how to help people. She's clever, and she's learning, so she gets even cleverer by the day. She may not have any A-Levels but she can most definitely defeat an alien trying to take over the World. In the twenty-first century, the Doctor and a select few - certain defenders of the Earth - know that the latter is probably the most important with the life they lead and the rate at which London gets alien tourists popping by. Even if the rest of the people of Earth are still convinced that 'all this alien business is just a hoax.'

She may be just twenty years old but she's seen so much more than any other human three times her age has ever seen. And he knows that it's probably wrong, at his age, for him to feel this way about such a young woman, but he can't help it. He thought that he had long forgotten what even a modicum of the way he feels about her could feel like - long ago, _centuries _ago. He is so much older than her, and yet when he's with her...he feels so young. And handsome. And happy. Young, and handsome, and happy, and _in love._ Things he had never thought he could feel, especially all at once, especially at his age. His mind is filled with thoughts of her, and he can't help it.

She didn't stumble into his life by accident. Weeelll, she did, technically – she was the lucky one who was down in that basement when he first grabbed her hand and told her to '_Run!'_ But he didn't need anyone; he could've left her there afterwards, with Mickey, with her mum, with every other human, without so much as a backward glance.

Except he couldn't. Because she was different. _Better_. He only takes the best. She saved him, in several different ways, and he found himself asking her to come with him. And when she refused...he felt as though he couldn't take no for an answer. He asked her again. He never does that. Usually, it's one chance, then nothing. But not for her. For her, lots of chances. It must have been something in her eyes; a look of determination to live a better, more exciting life; a look of bravery and passion and youth and trust and adventure. That's what made him go back to her. It was only afterwards that he noticed that she's beautiful. It was only afterwards that he fell for her, going against all his Reasons not to (he doesn't remember a single Reason now).

He didn't pick her. She picked him. She _rejected _him at first, despite all he offered – all of space. She's her own person, with her own mind and her own decisions. And then she smiled and ran to him and things changed so, so much for the both of them. And whatever she did – whether she solved a problem or caused it – he always felt this pull, this gravity, this magnetism...the urge to hold her, hug her, kiss her. So he did. And he does. And it's brilliant.

She's brilliant. Brilliant, brave and beautiful, and no one can disprove that. She's the _only _important thing to him now and that scares him. But every time she presses her lips to his, and every time they lay intertwined together on their bed...he knows. It's a good kind of scared. The kind of scared that makes you cling onto something – _her_ – as though your life depends on it. As though if you let go, or stop, just for a second, the universe will stop with you.

Therefore, he resolves to always hold her close to him, kiss away any pain, laugh during their mad conversations, and never, ever stop loving her. Just for the good of the universe, of course. Not. He's just too selfish to let her go. He's fallen far, far too deep now.

And now, with the boundaries down, his hearts hers and her heart his, he is certain that he would like nothing more than to run his fingers through her hair and pull her lips to his for the most wonderful, searing kiss she's ever had.

He leans forward.

Bugger, he realises, lips barely an inch from the side of her face. No snogging allowed at the moment. Resist. _Resist. _He should be good at this. He had months of practice, but now - even though they had only been kissing a little while ago - he desperately wants to kiss her again. _Resist._

Rose shifts around to look at him quizzically, noticing his clenched jaw and his tightened grip in her hand.

He meets her gaze.

"You okay?" she asks, suppressing a smile. She can now sense that maybe he isn't quite so controlled as she thought he would be.

He swallows. "Yep! Fine. You?"

He isn't. This game they are playing is killing him. But he can't lose. He can't give in. He's stubborn like that.

"Yeah, I'm good."

She isn't. She wishes he'd just give in and kiss her.

"Want to go get some chips?" he asks, saying the first thing that comes into his head that isn't remotely related to making love to Rose Tyler anywhere and everywhere. He hopes that chips will distract them both. That's what he used to do, when things got awkward, or that sexual tension surfaced, back before they got together properly: treat her to some chips, and remind himself that they were _'just good friends.' _Though the latter part needn't be done now. Or the first part really, considering he had no money, and she always bought the chips anyway, so really it was her treating him, but that doesn't really matter because she's lovely and he wants to kiss her and – _no_. He wants some chips. He wants Ro – some _chips. Chips. _Rose's lips. _Chips_.Chips, chips, _chips._

Blimey.

"Ooh, yes please. But you're paying," she replies, smiling widely, knowing that the chips would be paid for by her yet again. She doesn't mind. Chips. She can do that. Chips will distract her. Hopefully. As long as he doesn't do that thing that he does with his mouth when he eats that really reminds her of something else that he does with his mouth and, oh god, that's something that she really, really shouldn't think of right now because he was making an effort here to prove to her that he can resist her and she was _not _going to be the one begging for the game to end and...and...no. She's going to win this. She won't give up. She's stubborn like that.

The Doctor jumps up suddenly, and fiddles with some buttons on the console.

"Here we go! Blackpool, England, Earth; December 31st, 2000. Best chips in the universe!"

Rose giggles and heaves herself out of her seat, hoping she won't make a fool of herself by jumping him within the first few moments of their visit.

They walk, hand-in-hand, to a fish and chip shop on the pier. Then, they sit, huddled together on a bench, watching the moon reflecting the lights onto the sea.

"These are fantastic, Doctor," Rose murmurs, her mouth full of chips.

"Told you so," he chuckles, stealing her next chip from her hand.

"Oi, that was mine," she admonishes, "Just 'cos you've eaten yours already..." Very distractingly, she thinks. She knows he does it on purpose.

"What's yours is mine," he comments lightly, promptly seizing another one just as she's about to put it into her mouth.

"Stop it! Give it back!" she exclaims, but she's laughing anyway.

"Too late," he says, popping the chip into his mouth, "Unless you want to retrieve it from my mouth, that is - "

"Don't even tempt me," she mutters.

"So you're struggling then?"

"Struggling with what?"

"Trying not to kiss me."

"Nope. No, I'm fine. It's just...I really love those chips," she replies, smiling teasingly.

"I bet you do," he murmurs.

"Are _you _struggling?" she asks, before swatting his hand away as he tries to sneak another chip out of her hand.

"Nah, course not. You're totally resistible."

"Thanks a lot. I thought you said you were obsessed with me..." she laughs, poking him in the ribs. He simply raises an eyebrow and smiles enigmatically.

She finishes her chips and licks her fingers. The Doctor swallows thickly, and Rose pretends she hasn't noticed. "So...fancy going on a rollercoaster?" she asks hopefully.

"Why not, that's a great idea!" the Doctor says hurriedly, pulling her up to her feet and guiding them through the crowds.

Anything to distract him from her being so...kissable.

**A/N: Hiya! Thanks for all your reviews and lovely birthday messages :D I had a fantastic, hyper, funny day, and laughed LOADS. I got some wonderful home-made TARDIS/David Tennant-ified birthday cards from my friends. One of them got me a pillow case with his face on, and the words 'Mrs David Tennant'. I feel very lucky I get to go to sleep with David every night now :D **

**Also, I ate a lot of chocolate cake. It was very tasty. Therefore, a BRILLIANT 16****th**** birthday, methinks ;P**

**Anyways, I hope enjoyed this chapter! More is on its way...**

**Love Laura xxx**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hello readers :D Some of this chapter mentions certain events (Remember Vegas...? ;P) of my other story 'And this is when he breaks the rules.' So if you like, you can always check that one out too, if you haven't yet read it. But you don't have to. Up to you xxx**

**Chapter 14**

Several rollercoaster rides later, Rose and the Doctor are on a Ferris wheel eating candyfloss, while trying to concentrate on not reaching for each other. His arm is already around her waist, and her hand is resting on his knee lightly. It's all they can both do not to kiss the pink stickiness right off each other's lips.

He's half-sure he used to have better self-control than this. What had happened? Oh yeah. Rose. And several other factors, all Rose's doing. Including mistletoe, some rolling about on the TARDIS floor, a trip to Vegas, a very interesting game of 'Truth or Dare', a _lot _of alcohol, some beautiful, _romantic _locations, and her telling him she loved him. That'd been when he'd broken the rules. That'd been when he lost all his willpower to stay away from her. And he hadn't been able to resist her ever since.

She looks at him out of the corner of her eye, and wonders if he is as close to surrendering as she already is. It's only been a few hours, but the urge to kiss him is overpowering her. Unconsciously, she tightens her grip on his knee as she drifts off into a daydream, remembering this morning...that had been fantastic...oh, and _last night_. Last night with that rather lovely experience. Now _that _had been wonderful...

And funnily enough, the Doctor is thinking about the same thing.

**~~~Flashback~~~**

"Doctor...?" she says, running a hand down his arm wistfully. She's sitting on the floor in front of him, cross-legged, doing nothing in particular. Except watch him dreamily while he lies on the sofa reading, his glasses perched on the end of his nose.

"Yes, Rose?" he replies, glancing up from his book to regard her. She looks nice with her hair like that, he notices, all wavy and wispy and windswept thanks to their earlier encounter on a beach in Miami, in the year of 1984. She looks nice with her hair like anything, he realises. Especially in the morning, when it's all lovely and sexily messed up after a good night's sleep. Well, maybe not a night's _sleep..._

"Do you ever get bored of travelling?" she asks curiously, breaking him out of his trance, "Cos you've lived such a long life and all. Plus, you take me places to where you've already been. Don't you get bored of seeing the same planets, same time zones?"

"Not when I get to show you, no," he responds, thinking about all the times he sees her beam with happiness, or open her eyes wide in awe at the wonders of the universe. He then eyes her suspiciously, "Why?"

"Just wondering," she says, smiling softly, "I suppose, there's so much of the universe you haven't even seen yet, eh?"

"That's what I believe," he smiles, "And it's good, because yeah, sometimes I show you places that I've already been to, because I know you'd love them, but other times, we end up in places I've never been before. So we experience it together. Which is nice. Very nice, in fact. Brilliant!"

Rose giggles and sits up, kneeling in front of him. Looking up at him, their eyes meet and she realises he's staring at her again. He does that a lot, she realises. She wonders what he's thinking. "I love travelling with you," she murmurs quietly.

"Me too," he replies softly, twirling a wisp of her hair in his fingers.

"Yeah?"

"Oh yes."

He tugs on her hand and pulls her up into his lap. She shifts down as he sits up a bit, to rest her head on his chest; she listens to the double _thump thump_ of his hearts and feels safe and comforted.

"Rose?" he whispers.

She raises her head to look at him. "Yeah?"

"Truth or dare?"

"Oh, um...dare."

"Dare. Right. I know, I dare you to...to kiss me," he says, grinning slightly. She raises an eyebrow. "Always wanted to dare you to do that. Back in Vegas," he explains.

"But instead you got me to ask some random guy what his favourite cheese was..." she says, giggling at the memory of a very jealous and possessive Doctor.

"Yep. But I wasn't to know that somehow you'd say it in a way that made him want to...well, you know. But I thought he looked a bit shifty from the moment I saw him put on that pink cowboy hat."

Rose laughs. "God... now _that _was a funny night."

"Yep, it certainly was."

"And very interesting."

"Was it?"

"Well, we had been drinking a lot, and you revealed some stuff, didn't you?"

"Oh yeah..." he replies, averting his eyes from hers.

"You didn't know what to do, you said," she says next, seeing how far she could push this.

"Yeah. I suppose I did," he says, shrugging nonchalantly.

"But then you kissed me," she says, tracing his lips with her finger. She pulls her hand back abruptly when she realises.

He smiles at this. "Yep! When in doubt, kiss Rose. That's my new motto," he replies, and Rose giggles.

"You also said that you hadn't - " she begins, only to be interrupted swiftly.

"- _you_ weren't wearing any underwear," he drops in casually, trying to turn the conversation around and avoid what he knew her next question would be.

"No, I wasn't. But that was your fault, really, for not getting me any when you bought me that beautiful pink dress...the very same dress that you ripped apart the other night..." she says, winking at him.

"Only 'cos you asked me too. I liked that dress. And you _forced _me to rip it off you. Consequently, I conclude that you're very mean. And somewhat kinky..." he says, smirking widely.

"You _loved_ doing that."

"Mmmm. So did you. A lot."

"True, true," she giggles. "But it was fun, 'cos I'd never seen you get like that before. I think perhaps it was because you were trying to convince me you were manly...and that you'd be better than Elvis..."

"Nonsense. Anyway, you still haven't done your dare yet," he replies, his brow furrowing. And he looks so adorable laying there all defensive with his sexy glasses on, that Rose can't resist tracing the features of his face with her finger. He shivers involuntarily at her touch.

She leans in to whisper in his ear, "Guess what?"

He swallows thickly at the feel of her breath against his neck. "What?"

"I'd always pick you." She brings her hands up into his hair as she presses tender kisses along his jaw line.

He turns her head slightly and whispers against her lips, as sincerely as he can manage, "That's a shame. 'Cos I'd always pick Elvis." He waggles his eyebrows at her.

She pokes her tongue out at him and then laughs warmly. "I _knew _you were gay..." she teases.

"If I were _gay, _then I really wouldn't be able to do this, would I?"

And with that, he flips her over, off of the sofa and onto the floor, landing on top of her with a thump. And then, he shows her - in the most amazing, beautiful way, not even known to the rest of the universe, it was so especially for them - that realistically, of course he'd pick her.

Always.

Forever.

**~~~End of flashback~~~**

He glances down at her hand clutching his knee, then back up at her face - where her eyes are closed and she's quite adorably biting her lip - with a raised eyebrow. She appears to snap out of some sort of daydream, opening her eyes suddenly, and, on seeing his eyes flick downwards again, realises what she's doing. She blushes bright red.

"What were you thinking about?" the Doctor asks innocently. He reckons he only needs one guess, as it's likely she had been thinking about the same thing he had been thinking about.

He's trying not to laugh. Well, really, he's trying not to kiss her, but you know...

"Oh, nothing, nothing," she insists, releasing his knee and averting her eyes to the view surrounding them. "It'll be the New Year soon. One whole year of the new millennium over. I bet there'll be fireworks..." she says, attempting to distract him.

He chuckles at her rapid change of subject, and shuffles close to her. He reaches for her hand, the one that had been resting on – well, _squeezing_ – his knee, and intertwines his fingers with hers. "What were you thinking about?" he repeats, close to her ear.

She shivers. "Bit chilly, isn't it?" she says, attempting to distract him again.

"Well, it is the end of December in England, so yeah. Pretty chilly," He wraps his other arm around her. "Better?" he asks, hoping to keep her warmer. And close to him.

"Yeah, ta. Though, I could think of better ways to get - " she stops herself as she realises what she's saying. She can't let him think that that's what she was –

"Ohhh. So that's what you were thinking about, eh?" he asks, nuzzling her hair playfully.

She turns her head to look him in the eye. "No, no. Never said that. You're just assuming that's what I was thinking. Which means you were the one _actually _thinking about it. Therefore, I wasn't thinking about it; I was simply referring to...to...aha! To the ancient art of trampoline-ing," she rambles, pointing at some kids on a trampoline way below them.

"Right..." he says slowly, thinking that over, "However, the question is, what did you think I was thinking that you were thinking?"

"Well, you know. The thing that we are trying so desperately hard to resist, in order to prove who is less _obsessed_..."

"Sex, then?"

"Yeah."

"Ah. But there you go, you see. Because did I actually mention that? I think not. You just _assumed _that's what I thought you were thinking. Which means you _must _have been thinking of it. I, on the other hand, _knew _you were talking about 'trampoline-ing,'" he concludes.

Rose sighs and gives him an evil look. "Well...oh, whatever," she exasperates, turning to face the front again.

He gives a triumphant little smile. "Want to know a secret?" he whispers into her ear, as he pulls her back against him.

"Suppose so," she mutters, but a smile plays on her lips when his arms come to wrap around her waist tightly. His fingers trace patterns on her stomach lazily.

"Both of us are obsessed."

Rose giggles and turns around in his arms to look at him again. "Yeah. You're so right."

"You were thinking about last night, weren't you?" he murmurs.

"Yeah. So were you?"

"Oh yes."

"Doctor..."

"Mmmm?"

"This is a silly game," she declares.

"Yes. It is."

He gazes at her, longing in his eyes, and her breathing speeds up.

"Wanna stop playing?" she asks hopefully.

"Definitely," he replies, a rather enthusiastic response, she feels.

And neither of them can resist anymore.

His hands come up to frame her face and they both inch towards each other at the same time.

Their lips meet and somewhere around them there is music playing, and children whining, and the spooky screams of the Ghost Train, and couples arguing about nothing, and the crash bang of the dodgems, and the clang of a bell, and the swish of the sea against the shore, and the mechanical sound of the wheel turning around and around, and the fireworks blasting in the air as the clock reaches midnight, and the cheers and singing of the residents of Blackpool, England, Earth, January 1st 2001...

But neither of them hears any of that. Because nothing else is important to them, nothing except each other.

The candyfloss lays long forgotten on the floor.

**A/N: Hiya :D Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think.**

**Oh. My. God. I just watched Flesh and Stone! Amy...well, I never. Naughty girl. I feel so sorry for poor Rory. And as for River...I don't know what to think. I just don't know. **

**Therefore, I'm off to watch some gorgeous Ten/Rose flirty moments. A.K.A, the entire series 2 (except for the obvious one that totally doesn't fit with the flow of where things were going between them...) **

**Into Denial I go...**

**Much love, Laura xxx**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Doctor?" she murmurs, waking up and yawning widely. She feels around for him lying next to her with her arm, and is surprised to find his side of the bed – woah! Did they really have their own sides of the bed now? That's a bit domestic, she thinks, wondering how the Doctor feels about that.

Anyway, his side of the bed is _empty._..

"Doctor?" she repeats as she rolls over sleepily. She opens one eye and giggles into the pillow in surprise. Sitting up, she reaches over the side of the bed and prods him in the shoulder. "Doctor...time to wake up..." she sings into his ear.

"Wh..huh.. what? Where – _oh,_" he stutters, slowly becoming aware that he is on the floor of their bedroom.

"Yeah. I think you must've fallen out of bed, Doctor..." she says, laughing at his confused expression.

"What? Why would I...Oh. No, no, no. I remember now. That's where you're wrong. I didn't _fall_ out. I was _forced!_" he declares, giving her the puppy-dog eyes look.

"Forced? What the - " She had no idea what he was talking about.

"- You, _Rose Tyler, _stole all the covers, then had the _audacity_ to kick me out of the bed!"

"I didn't kick you out! What are you going on about?" she responds, bemused.

"Yes you did! In your sleep!" he exclaims indignantly.

"Did I? Oh. Whoops. Sorry," she apologises, though she doesn't sound that sincere. In fact, almost immediately after she says it, she bursts out laughing again, earning a scowl from the Doctor.

He stands up and flops down on the bed with a _'hmph.'_

"It isn't funny. Rose. Rose, it isn't funny. Stop laughing. Stop it!" he tells her sternly.

"Sorry...it's just, I can't..." she splutters, giggling madly. She laughs even harder at the look on his face, his frown deepening. "Oh my god - are you seriously trying to act all angry?" she asks him cheekily.

"I'm not _trying_ to act all angry. I am all angry," he replies.

But both of them know he isn't really.

"Awww, Doctor. Poor," she pauses as she plants a kiss to his shoulder, "poor," and again with a kiss to his neck, smirking as a smile tugs at his lips despite himself, "Doctor," and finally, she reaches his mouth, rolling on top of him.

When she pulls away, he murmurs against her lips, "Don't think you can distract me that easily, Rose Tyler."

"Already did..." she says smugly, noticing just how distracted he'd gotten as she pressed her body into him.

He smiles mischievously. "Mmm. Knew that would work."

"Did you now... So, did I really shove you out of the bed during the night, or were you just making that up so that I would do this to say sorry?" she asks, kissing his neck softly.

"Of course I wasn't making it up. But don't worry. I'm not really angry. If this is how you apologise, I'm certainly not complaining. The floor's quite comfy, really..." he tells her teasingly. "Although, it felt weird not to have you snuggling up to me," he says, and then wishes he hadn't. It sounded very...domestic. But then, that was what he thought, so he supposes he should be honest with her really.

Rose blushes at his comment, not knowing why. She knows one thing: she's very glad that he noticed the absence of snuggling, and seemed to want her to be there. She loves that this has become normal between them.

Then a thought occurs to her.

"Why didn't you just get up and get back into bed?"

"I tried. But you had splayed out across the entire bed like a starfish. I feel a bit hurt that you didn't notice my absence until you woke up, actually. Usually you notice the _slightest _movement."

"I'm really, truly sorry. From the bottom of my heart."

"Good. I should think so, too," he replies, and then grins widely. He rolls them so that she's on her back and he's on top. "So...what do you want for breakfast?"

"You," she says simply.

He considers this a moment.

"Fair enough," he concedes.

**............................................................................................................................................**

After, ahem, _breakfast, _the Doctor sets the course randomly, not knowing where they'll end up.

"And then I simply flicked the switch and it was gone, no clue how or why..." he finishes his story as they step outside the TARDIS doors.

"Wow. Breathe in that lovely fresh air, Doctor," she says sarcastically as she accidently inhales deeply to find the wonderful stench of manure reach her nostrils.

"Nice," he comments, wrinkling his nose. "Rose, careful where you walk. I'll tell you one thing right here and now: there is no way that I'll be clearing it up if you walk it into the TARDIS. No way."

They start to walk, carefully dodging all the mess. From the looks of things they had landed in the English countryside. Brilliant.

"No way?" she asks.

"No way."

He notices a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "No, Rose. Not even if you do _that._ No way. Not even if you do that...I dunno, _seventeen times_. No way."

She looks at him disbelievingly, an eyebrow raised. She doesn't even have to say a word.

"Yeah, well, ok. Maybe I'd do it if you did it seventeen times..." he concedes.

"Or _twice..._" she mutters, giggling when he shakes his head at her. She slips her hand into his. "Don't worry. _I _wasn't planning on stepping in anything. You're the one who always does stuff like that; I'm much less gravitationally challenged than you."

"Oi! I'm not - "

"Remember the custard incident? _And_ the hot air balloon. Oh! And when you 'jumped' over that fence_. Fell_ more like. And that time when you slipped over and pushed me into the mud as you crashed to the floor. That wasn't very nice. And there was also that time when you fell in that poor girl's pond and paralysed her favourite fish..."

"Yes, yes, ok, I get your point; I suppose I can be a bit clumsy at times," he insists, before muttering to himself quietly, "Paralyse a fish indeed. How is it even possible to _paralyse _a _fish? _I'm sure you make half this stuff up. Bloody women..."

"What's that?" she asks, sure he is saying something insulting under his breath.

"Nothing. Just telling myself that I think I should try to be better. You know, at looking where I'm going and all that," he lies.

"Right. Sure you did." She doesn't believe him for a second. She always sees right through his lies. "Anyway, do you have any idea where we are?"

"Weeelll, looks like a field. A regular farmer's field, on Earth most likely. Somewhere in Britain, probably." He sniffs. "Possibly...1888-ish..."

**............................................................................................................................................**

Turns out it was a farmer's field. Not a very friendly farmer, either. It seemed he hated to be told that he smelled rather like a Slitheen's backside. Which, in hindsight, was probably a fairly reasonable reason to hate the Doctor. And want to kill him. So they ran. Very, very fast, and very, very far.

Except the field wasn't in Britain. Or even on Earth, actually. It was on the planet Quasihexa, in the year 43/banana/26#--01, no less. But none of that really matters.

What really matters is that the Doctor and Rose escaped, laughing and breathing heavily from all the running they had done, swinging their hands between them as they entered the TARDIS, and the Doctor set the coordinates for a new adventure.

Somewhere with sun, sea and sand, Rose had asked for.

They ended up in Edinburgh, 1883, just in time to meet Robert Louis Stevenson after he had just had Treasure Island published. Which - although Rose made some slip-ups by mentioning a certain Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde novella that was yet to be penned by Stevenson - had turned out to be a very interesting adventure; much better than a beach holiday, at any rate.

Especially as the Doctor affected his Scottish accent again, knowing that it made Rose go weak in the knees. That had led to...well, what anything and everything always leads too, with the Doctor and Rose.

So, all in all, a rather wondrous twenty-four hours. It's surprising how much they get done in just a day, actually, Rose thinks, as they lie side by side on the, erm, _kitchen table_.

She feels very tired.

"Doctor...?" she begins, stifling a yawn.

"Yes, Rose?" he replies, turning onto his side to look at her.

"I'm knackered. Can we stay in tomorrow? You know, relax a bit?"

"Of course."

"Thanks," she murmurs, before falling asleep against him.

He stands, lifts her into his arms, and carries her to bed.

He resolves that they'll spend the entire day in bed tomorrow. To let Rose recover, of course. She is very tired.

As he lays her onto the mattress, pulling the soft sheets up around her before climbing in next to her, it suddenly occurs to him that he's very tired too. He never needed much sleep before they did so much...dancing.

He shifts, so that he's lying so close to her that he can feel the warmth of her skin radiate onto his, and she unconsciously moves closer to him too, moulding herself into his body as if she's meant to fit there. Which she is.

Kissing the top of her head, he whispers an old Gallifreyan saying into her hair, before falling asleep himself.

Naturally, the saying goes something like 'I love you.'

If only she knew.

**a/n: Please, please, please review, with ball bearings on top ;P love laura xxx**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Snap!" she shouts triumphantly. The Doctor groans. She's beaten him again.

"Well, whoop-di-doo!" he replies, pouting slightly.

"Hey, don't get sulky just 'cos you lost again," she says, smiling cheekily at him. She thinks for a moment. "Aren't you supposed to have quicker reflexes than me, what with you being a Time Lord – you know, having superior senses et cetera, et cetera?"

"Yes," he says curtly, sighing in exasperation and heaving himself out of his seat.

"Oh. Well, I guess that proves I'm better at Snap than you. Want to play another game?"

"Nope," he replies, and he twirls her to her feet. "I want to dance."

Before she can reply, an old favourite song of theirs begins to blare out in the console room. She remembers the night they first danced to this, when Jack began travelling with them. She smiles softly. How things have changed since then, she muses.

Without further warning, he pulls Rose flush against him, taking one hand in his and placing the other on his shoulder. His other hand slips down to her hip, and he spins them around joyously.

Yep, things have certainly changed.

"Been a while since we've done this," she murmurs against his neck, "And without me having to pressurise you into it too..."

"Yes, well..." he mutters.

"Full of surprises, aren't you Doctor?"

"Mmmm." He spins her out and back in quickly so that she falls against his chest, and he brings them closer together still. One of his hands slips down from her hip to rest on her lower back, almost touching her bum but not quite; his other hand slides up into her hair, gently pushing her head forward so that it's barely an inch away from his.

"Although, I don't remember you dancing quite like this last time," she comments, enjoying the feel of his hands questing around her body.

"Weeelll, that doesn't mean I didn't want to. But we had a guest, so..."

She scoffs. "Yeah, like you would've actually done anything if Jack hadn't been there. The only reason you were dancing with me was because you didn't want _him_ to dance with me," she teases, her breath mingling with his.

He leans his forehead into hers and their noses brush. "I suppose that's sort of true. I was _very _jealous..."

"I thought 'Time Lords don't get jealous,' eh?" she retorts.

They've stopped dancing now, just sort of swaying to the music, standing in each other's embrace.

"Yeah, well...I lied," he confesses quietly.

"Mmm, I kind of figured that out a _long _time ago," she says, smiling cheekily.

"I never used to be the jealous type, though. So actually, it's your own fault," he explains, nuzzling her nose with his as he speaks.

"How did you work that out?" she replies, poking her tongue between her teeth.

"Well, if you weren't so delectable, men – weelll, I say men, but you've had your fair share of female attention as w - "

" – Woah there. _Female?"_

"Come on! You really didn't notice that woman eying you up in Switzerland the other - "

" – hang on a sec. Switzerland? As in on Earth? Female _humans_?"

"Yes, Rose. I thought she was staring at me at first," he says, and Rose rolls her eyes, "But then you went to the loo and her eyes never left your - "

" – Ok, ok, I get the idea," she interrupts, laughing, "Basically, I'm irresistible to anyone – human or alien, male or female - is that what you saying?"

"Yep," he says, popping the 'p.'

"Hmmm. Well, that's interesting to know," she murmurs, winking at him saucily.

"Is it?" he asks, looking alarmed. "I was under the impression that you were completely obsessed with me. I don't think my jealous hearts could take it if you went swanning off with anyone else, especially if that someone was another _woman."_

Rose laughs, "Don't worry, Doctor. I'm not swanning off anywhere."

"Good," he says firmly.

"Good," she echoes, and he smiles at her warmly.

"Anyway, as I was saying before you got all freaked out; it's all your fault that I've got like this," he tells her.

"Well. I'm kind of proud of that then. 'Cos, I don't know...it's not like it's a bad thing. I kind of like it that you get all possessive, actually. Makes me feel like you - " Rose stops speaking, aware that she had been about to say something very, very stupid. The Doctor is looking at her questioningly, and when he opens his mouth to speak, she decides to distract him. She closes the very small distance between them and presses her lips to his, sliding her tongue into his open mouth. He moans a little in surprise and appreciation, and soon he is quite spectacularly distracted from asking her how she was going to finish that sentence.

While he's busying himself with moving his tongue across her neck and collar bone, she swiftly unties his tie and unbuttons his jacket and shirt pushing them off his shoulders all at once. He reaches up underneath her top and unhooks her bra with ease.

"Aahhh, you're getting good at that," she murmurs against his neck.

"Oh yes," he replies, grinning widely before pulling her top over her head and throwing it and the bra haphazardly behind him.

"You know...one of these...days we're actually going...um...to have to find my missing clothes..." she gasps out against his mouth.

"Hmmm. We could play hide and seek. Naked hide and seek," he suggests, unbuttoning her jeans.

"Sounds good to me..." she steps out of her jeans quickly, and kicks them somewhere under the console.

"You know, Rose, one of these days we're actually...oh, _oh..." _he momentarily loses focus when Rose trails her hands across his chest and bites his ear.

"Actually...?" she asks, smirking slightly.

"Um...oh yeah, we're actually going to make it to the bedroom first..." he says, lifting her up into his arms. "Which, coincidently, is where I'm taking you right now."

"Mmmm, yeah you're probably right. What if we had _guests _or something...they wouldn't know where to look," she laughs, wrapping her arms around his neck. She thinks for a second. "_Or..._they might want to join in." She's not keen on that idea. She'd rather have the Doctor to herself. Even if the 'guest' was Jack. She chuckles to herself slightly at that idea...

"I think it's better with two, to be perfectly honest," he replies, smiling down at her. She giggles, and he bends his head to capture her lips again.

When he reaches their room, he pauses kissing her, and throws her out of his arms and onto the bed.

"Doctor!" she squeals, and he flops himself down beside her.

"Yes?" he says innocently, turning his head to face her as she reaches her hand up to stroke his face. He takes her hand in his and intertwines their fingers, brushing his thumb over the back of her hand.

"You're so..." she begins, and the Doctor raises an eyebrow.

"What? Handsome? Funny? Sexy?" he asks, pulling her towards him.

"No..."

"Oh. Thanks," he replies, pushing her away again, pretending to be offended.

Rose laughs, and snuggles up against him. "You are all those things, but that's not what I was gonna say..."

The Doctor smiles. "Well?" he prompts.

"You're so different."

"What do you mean? Different from the me who danced with you before?"

"No, no, not different like that. Well yeah, you are, but no, what I mean is, you're so different from any other man. And I don't mean just 'cos you're an alien."

"What do you mean then?" he asks, absently twirling a strand of her hair in between his fingers.

"I mean...the way you look at me."

"Eh?" he asks, thoroughly confused.

"You were saying before, about how you've been jealous of other people looking at me and all that."

"Mmmm..."

"And well, I just want you to know that no one looks at me quite the way you do. Therefore, you really have nothing to be jealous about."

The Doctor gazes at her silently for a few moments, wondering what she means about the way he looks at her. How does he look at her? He hopes whatever she think she sees in his eyes is the truth: that he thinks she's beautiful, that he adores her.

He lies there admiring her in the dim light of the bedroom, looking at the way her hair falls about her shoulders and glimmers in the limited light. He looks at her wide brown eyes and her pretty pink lips and he thinks, for a moment, about what would have become of him had he not met this brilliant, beautiful woman. She saved him, and he showed her the universe as a thank you. Then she showed him compassion, and friendship, and a wonderful enthusiasm for life and adventure, and he fell in love with her so, so irrevocably. And he had tried, so hard, not to fall into this; this way of life, where he allowed himself to be with her in every way they desired – not just a hand to hold and a body to hug but more than that, so much more. But in the end he couldn't hold back any longer, and he broke all the rules. And right now, watching her stroke his chest lightly with one hand, her other still grasped tightly in his; watching her in their bed, naked and beautiful, so much hope and lust and _love _in her eyes...right now, he is wondering why he ever thought it would be better not to have this.

Sure, one day, he would lose her...and he can't bear to think about that. It's going to hurt his hearts like nothing he's ever felt before. But that won't be for a very, very, long time, and he resolves to make every second he has with her now count, because she is everything to him. And he loves her...

"Like that!" she exclaims suddenly, and he jumps out of his trance in surprise, "Like that...that's the way you look at me."

"Well, considering the fact that I can't look into my own eyes to see for myself, you're gonna have to help me out, Rose. What do you mean? How do I look at you?"

"Like you...like you think I'm the most beautiful thing you've ever seen," she tells him, and blushes immediately, embarrassed at her presumptions.

But that _is _the way he looks at her, she thinks. She knows it's not true – he's seen so much of the universe, seen so many people, in his long life that it can't possibly be true. But he has the capability to make her feel beautiful, for the first time in her life, and it doesn't matter that it's not true, because at least he can pretend. Other people look into her eyes and she can tell straight away what they are thinking; what they want from her, or the way they feel about her. She knew, long ago, when he first looked at her in his special way, back when he had blue eyes, that it was different with him. But it took her a while to figure out how. How much better a man he is compared to everyone else. How much better he looks after her.

He's still a mystery to her though; while he's looking at her like that, who knows what he's really thinking, but there's _something _there, something in his gaze that stops her from looking away, something that makes it seem like he's trying to tell her something with his eyes...she has no clue what. But she suspects it's something good.

"Well, yes," he says simply, in a tone that implies 'Isn't that obvious?' and it takes Rose a moment or two to register what he has said.

"What?" she asks, a frown creeping onto her face in confusion.

"Yes. That's how I look at you. Because that's how I see you," he replies, pressing a kiss to her hand.

She gasps in surprise.

"What's wrong?" he asks, "You just said you knew that's how I look at you."

"I...I..." she stutters, "I know, but...I didn't really believe it. I thought...wait...how? How can it be possible for you to look at me that way?"

"I don't know. Because it's the truth?" he exasperates, wanting to get back to kissing her again.

"But _how?_"

"I don't know. I can't help it. It's your fault, not mine," he murmurs, stroking her cheek lightly.

"But...but no one else, _no one _else – even those who don't get to see all of time and space – no one else has ever considered me to be..."

" - Then they're blind. And stupid. And possibly insane," he says, cupping her face in his hands and pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "Rose, why can't you just accept the fact that I think you're the most dazzling, brave, gorgeous, brilliant, witty, fantastic, sexy, _beautiful_ creature in the universe?"

Rose holds his steady gaze for a few moments. "I bet you say that to all the girls," she murmurs, smiling slightly.

"Oh no. Nope, I'm pretty sure that every other person in existence has only ever had one adjective used by yours truly to describe them. See, you're worthy of _eight_, Rose - eight whole adjectives. And all rather nice ones, too," he teases.

She beams at him. "Ah. Well that's alright then," she replies, before resuming their kiss.

He pulls back slightly and frowns. "Oh, but I forgot something. I meant to say, you're dazzling, brave, gorgeous, brilliant, witty, fantastic, sexy, and very, very beautiful...for a human," he says, and grins at her, even as she slaps his arm harshly.

"Ruin it, why don't you," she accuses, but her beaming smile and raucous laughter gives her away. Add that to the fact that she's rolled on top of him rather nicely, it suggests that Rose isn't remotely angry at him.

The Doctor rolls them both over so that he's on top, and murmurs softly against her lips, "So, are finally going to finish what we started in the console room?"

Rose thinks for a moment. "Nah. Actually, I'm a bit tired. Maybe we should just get some sleep..." she suggests, trying to keep a straight face.

He peers at her closely. "No chance," he declares, kissing his way down her body.

"Hey, what happened to the gentleman, eh?" she teases, but quite frankly, she doesn't give a damn when he's doing _that_.

"Oh, he's still here. And when your hormone levels have returned to normal, along with your heart rate and oxygen inhalation, he'll believe you when you say that you don't want him to do...this..." he says smugly, and Rose knows she's been caught out. Bloody superior Time Lord senses. She can't keep anything from him now, even her own arousal.

**............................................................................................................................................**

Then again...she reasons, when they are tangled up together and drifting off into their dreams...he is bloody good.

And the last thing he tells her before he falls asleep is a whispered: "You're everything, you know that?"

So, Rose goes to sleep content with the knowledge that when the Doctor looks at her in his special way, it means what he says it means.

Oh, and whatever that something that he's trying to tell her with his eyes is, she vows to find out very, very soon.

It's only a matter of time until the last card is shown, and the final, most important secret is revealed to her.

Isn't it?


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Yeah, if you're a true fan, you'll figure this out, but I'll tell you anyway. This chapter is set after Satan Pit. Hope you enjoy! **

**Much love, **

**Laura xxx**

**Chapter 17**

"But you two, you never said. Who are you?" asks Ida.

"Oh," he looks down at Rose smiling softly, "The stuff of legend."

With that, the TARDIS flies away from the rocket and the brilliant humans who had faced danger and fear, just because it was there, and it's just Rose and the Doctor again.

Rose glances at the Doctor. "I almost lost you, today," she declares, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Nah," he replies, pointing to the orange spacesuit left on the jump seat, "Brought it back in one piece, didn't I?"

Rose giggles and reaches over to pick it up. "Suppose so. Hold on, where's the helmet?"

"Ohhh...yeah, the visor broke," he replies sheepishly.

"What, when you accidently-on-purpose 'fell' into the pit?"

"Erm...yeah," he confesses, wondering how she knows him so well.

"_Crazy_," she mutters to herself.

"You never believed I was dead, did you?" he asks softly.

She shrugs her shoulders.

"You have that much faith in me?"

"Of course I do. I wasn't gonna just leave you."

"Ah, yes, Zach told me you were a bit of a problem passenger."

"They bloody drugged me!"

He averts his eyes from hers, and mutters, "You shouldn't...I shouldn't let...you shouldn't..."

"What? I shouldn't wait for you? Don't be so ridiculous." she snaps back, rather sternly, the Doctor thinks.

"Yeah," he mutters back, fearful of getting a Tyler slap.

"Ok, like that's ever gonna happen. Anyway, what happened to 'always wait five and a half hours'?" she asks, lightening her tone and poking him in the chest playfully.

"Sometimes that's too long. You could've ended up stuck there, and...Well, anyway, you should always try and get out; save yourself. Promise me Rose. If we are on some planet and you're in danger, just _leave _when you get the chance, don't hang around waiting to...die."

"No chance," she answers firmly, folding her arms across her chest.

He snaps his head up to look at her, almost pleadingly. "Rose..."

"Look, I'm sorry Doctor, but I can't do that. I just...I can't, I just can't. I could never leave you."

"Even if I was dead?"

"_Especially _if you were dead. You've been alone for so long. But now you've got me. And you're stuck with me, whether you like it or not, so..."

"- Rose..."

"...because... for some strange, _confusing_ reason that I am completely unaware of, I love you, and always will love you." She pauses and takes a deep breath, "You really think I could just walk away from you?"

The Doctor doesn't know what to say to that. "I..."

She puts her hand over his and looks deep into his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. Not ever."

He pulls her in for a hug. "Good. Thank you," he murmurs into her ear. Despite his protestations, he's grateful to her. She is so brave and really believes in him. Just like he believes in her. And for the first time in his long life, he knows that his companion will stay to true to her word and never want to leave him, unlike all the others. Rose is different. Rose is so much more. He hugs her tighter.

Mumbling into his chest, Rose says, "Ida said...she said you said my name. When you fell...?"

"Yes," he whispers. He'd almost said something else as well, he remembers.

"Oh," Rose replies, unsure of what to make of it.

"Weelll, it's a beautiful word to say at one's possible last moment, so..." he trails off.

"Thanks," she says, chuckling. She doesn't know why, but she feels sort of disappointed that that was his reasoning behind it.

"...And you're very important in my life – possibly the only thing that matters in the great grand scheme of things, weelll, as well as the TARDIS, but even that's not as preci...well, anyway," he clears his throat, "What I mean is, it's only natural that I would say your name."

Rose doesn't feel disappointed any more. She smiles widely into his shoulder, irrational tears glistening in her eyes. "Yeah?" she asks shakily.

"Yes," he replies reassuringly. Then, he pulls her away from him, only to lean down straight away and kiss her soundly.

He feels something wet his cheeks and breaks the kiss. "Rose?" he asks, wiping her tears away. She's not crying as such, no sobs or anything, but tears are falling from her eyes all the same. "Rose, why are you - "

"I'm not," she cuts him off. He gives her an incredulous look. "Ok, I sort of am, but I don't know why...I'm just being silly."

"What's wrong?" he asks anxiously.

"Nothing, seriously, I'm fine. Don't worry," she says, smiling gently at him.

"Is it because of today? With the...whatever it was?" he asks, looking at her closely. She shakes her head. "Did it scare you? Rose, you don't have to worry, you're safe. I'll always make sure you're safe. Weeelll, I'll do my best. Gotta keep my promise to Jackie, after all. Don't want another Tyler slap..."

Rose laughs and lifts a hand to stroke his face lightly. "Doctor, I'm not thinking about any of that, or worried, or scared or anything. I'm fine. I don't know what the tears are all about. Maybe it's just the relief, yeah?"

He narrows his eyes at her but nods at her anyway. "Ok. If you're sure..."

"I'm sure. I'm just...happy," she replies, smiling her teasing smile at him. He loves that smile.

"Happy?" he repeats, the corners of his mouth turning up in amusement.

"Yeah. Happy," she replies.

"Ah. Well, that's good. That's very good. Brilliant in fact. 'Cos I'm happy too. Very happy. Brilliantly happy," he says, and he is grinning at her now.

"Good," she says, her tongue poking out between her teeth.

"Good," he agrees, laughing at their little ritual conversation.

Rose moves out of his arms slowly and goes to sit on the jump seat. He turns around and leans against the console, watching her as she draws her legs up to sit cross legged facing him. Her blonde hair falls about her shoulders; her teeth come out to bite her lip. Mascara has been washed down her cheeks leaving black smudges as a trail, but she still looks beautiful, and right now her big brown eyes are staring at him quizzically.

"What now?" he asks, rolling his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she says in response. It's different, somehow. He often looks at her like he thinks she's beautiful, they've had _that _conversation before, but this...this is something new. This is something different. Something more.

"Like what?" He knew he had been staring at her for quite a while, but he had no idea what his expression had looked like. Actually, he has the feeling that it was the look he usually reserves for when she's not looking at him, or when she's sleeping. Not when she's staring right back at him. He should really stop doing that.

"Like you...well, like you...Oh, I dunno," she says, getting a bit flustered. She can't say it. She fears she'd be making a terrible mistake if she does. Because surely he can't be looking at her like _that_, can he? She must be imagining it.

His hearts speed up slightly and his hands grip the side of the console. "Yes you do. Like what?" She must know. Even if she didn't see it before, she must know now, surely?

She lets out a shaky breath; a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "It doesn't matter."

"Actually, I think it - "

"- So, where are we going next?" she says hurriedly, cutting him off in an effort to change the subject.

He looks at her warily. He then decides she's being too stubborn at the moment, so he resolves to change his tactics. He'll get back to that conversation later. "Erm, well, I thought maybe we'd have a bit of a rest. You must be tired, after today, so yeah. We can just float in the vortex for a bit."

That sounds good to Rose. "Yeah, that would be nice. No running for a bit. Time to relax, recharge the batteries..."

"Good," he says, turning around to flick some switches in the console. He thinks silently for a few minutes, and then says, "Rose?"

"Mmmm?" she replies from behind him.

"Earlier on, when we were on the sanctuary base..."

"Yeah?"

"And we thought we had lost the TARDIS...You were saying that, well, that I'd have to get a house and carpets and a mortgage and all that..."

She giggles. "Yes. God, I can't imagine that." She thinks for a moment, trying to imagine him living in a house. Cooking in the kitchen. Cleaning the bathroom. Ironing. _Gardening._ They would never have that life. And she didn't want it. Not really. Well, she wouldn't _un-_want it; not if she _had_ to have it with him, anyway. But she had no desire for it when she could have the life they are living now, instead.

"No?" he murmurs.

"No. It must have been awful for you to think that you'd have to 'settle down,' eh?" she says, fiddling with the hem of her top nervously. Despite knowing that they would never be like that, never be a proper couple with a normal life, and despite knowing that she didn't really want that lifestyle, it made her feel uneasy to think that he wouldn't have been happy, stuck with her and only her. She wishes he'd feel the same way as her, then she would know that as long as they were together, they would be content. Happy.

"Oh." He doesn't know why, but he feels sort of disappointed with her response, which is silly, because of course it _was _awful that he had lost the TARDIS and had to face the prospect of living a normal life. Of course that was awful. Wasn't it? Well, the TARDIS was the only thing he had left - literally the only thing. Well, that's what he had said to Zach. But really...he had Rose, and she...she was probably the only thing he needed to be happy. He knows that's true, actually, because he had been so much calmer about the entire situation after _that _conversation that they had had. When she had mentioned that they could 'share' and got all adorably flustered. She was all he needed. And as long as they were together – even if they were limited to a particular time frame, a particular planet –they would always find adventure, and she would hold his hand, and they would be happy. Because she loves him, and he loves her. And that's all that counts.

"What do you mean 'oh'?" she asks, a little hope creeping into her voice.

He snaps out of his internal musings when she speaks. "Erm, um, nothing, nothing," he replies abruptly.

Rose is doubtful. She wonders...no. No, he can't be. He wouldn't. He'd never want that.

"Could you pull that lever there..." he trails off as Rose gets up and walks over to the console. She reaches out and points at a lever, and he smiles. "Yep, that's it. Just give it a quick tug."

She does as he asks and then walks over to him. Her brow furrows slightly, and he can tell she's thinking something over carefully, as if assessing whether or not she should say it.

"What's up?" he prompts, nudging her ribs with his elbow as they stand side by side. She glances up at him and bites her lip. "Whatever it is you want to ask, just ask it, Rose."

"Ok. So I was just wondering... if we had ended up on some planet without the TARDIS, how would you have felt?" Her heart beats a bit too fast in anticipation of his answer.

"Honestly?" he asks. She nods. "Scared. Stuck," he answers.

"Thought so," she says, her heart sinking a little.

"But then, stuck with you...that wouldn't be so bad," he adds, echoing her words from earlier, as he reaches a hand up to push a strand of her hair behind her ear. She smiles up at him feebly. But then, as he continues to speak, her smile grows wider, until it falls off her face in shock. "Cos you'd be there right? I'd still have you to hold my hand. I would, wouldn't I? I'd need you. I don't know if I could cope with it all on my own. You'd have to do the paperwork, though; I've never visited a bank in my life..." he pauses, mouth still open but his words dying on his lips, as he realises what he's saying.

The forbidden words. The agreement to what she had been saying back on the base. Their conversation earlier had trailed off once they both realised the implications of what she had been saying – about 'sharing' and all that. It wasn't like they weren't living together now, but he supposes it would be different if they were settling down in a house. It could lead to other...domestic situations. But then, would that really be so bad? He'd have Rose, after all.

But maybe he shouldn't have said all that. Rose looks a bit shell-shocked.

She's looking at him with her mouth open and her eyes wide. She can't believe he actually said all that. He'd been quick to divert the awkward conversation before, but now he had practically admitted that they would have lived together. Been together. Like a proper...like a proper _couple. _Did he realise that? Did he realise that that was what it would have been like?

They both stand there; open-mouthed, silently staring at each other for around two and a half minutes, before he makes a small coughing sound and tugs his ear. "So, erm..." he mutters.

"Yeah...um..." she says, thinking of what she could say next to relieve the tension in the atmosphere.

"Um...so, what shall we...er..." he stutters, running a hand through his hair nervously.

"Maybe...maybe I should go get some sleep?" she suggests.

"Right, yes! Ok...um, goodnight?"

"Yeah," she smiles, "Night, Doctor."

God this is awkward, she thinks, as she leans up to give him a goodnight kiss on the cheek.

But she can't go through with her plan to make a hasty escape from their clumsy conversation, because suddenly he surprises them both, and turns his head, capturing her lips with his own, grasping her arms in his hands. He pulls her flush against him, and his hands move from her arms, one sliding up into her hair, the other sliding down to her lower back, holding her tight.

She gasps against his lips in surprise, and he deepens the kiss, and as their tongues dance together she can barely breathe. He swivels them around, pushing her against the console roughly, and her hands grasp the lapels of his jacket forcefully as she moans in appreciation at his sudden movements.

They kiss with passion, and relief, and hope and _love, _and when the kiss comes to an end, Rose doesn't even attempt to speak, she's so dazed.

He leans his forehead against hers, trying to catch his breath. "Rose," he breathes out; but it's not a question, or a demand, or anything. It's just him, the Doctor, saying her name like she's the most precious thing in the universe. Which she is.

She feels his breath hover over her mouth and swiftly pushes her lips back to his, claiming the lower lip with a bite before sweeping her tongue over it. Moaning into her mouth, his hands dip below the hem of her top, caressing the soft skin of her stomach. She shivers in his arms. "Doctor," she murmurs as she pulls her lips away. And with that word, it's simply a young, brilliant girl, Rose Tyler, saying his name like he means everything to her. Which he does.

He gazes at her for a moment, before unhooking her legs that had somehow found themselves wrapped around his waist without either of them noticing, and he sets her on her feet. Teasing cheekily, he says: "Night then. Sweet dreams." He steps back from her warm body, and she looks at him in frustration.

She steps towards him, closing the gap between them once more, and looks right into his eyes. "Oh, I will," she smirks back, simultaneously pressing her hip into him, just _there,_ before pulling back immediately and wandering off down the corridor.

He swallows. "Yeah, ok, I asked for that," he admits under his breath as he turns to follow her.

It's funny how an awkward conversation can disappear with a snog from the Doctor, she thinks, grinning widely as she hears his footsteps following her to their bedroom.

But she still wonders what all this really means to him.

Because...he still hasn't actually told her. So...she still doesn't actually know.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

The TARDIS lands with a bump and sends the Doctor and Rose sprawling across the floor. They lie there next to each other, panting, before turning their heads to look at each other at exactly the same time. Laughing hysterically, they try to catch their breath, and he reaches his hand to find hers, intertwining their fingers.

The laughter fades out and they become silent again, gentle smiles adorning their parallel faces. He gazes deep into her eyes for a few moments, and Rose sees that look he's giving her again, the one where he's trying to tell her something. Her brow furrows and she stares back, not blinking, trying to work his cryptic message out. Slowly, he brings his other hand up to touch her face and he traces over her lips lightly, making Rose sigh happily.

But before he lets himself get spectacularly distracted for the third – no, wait, _fourth – _time this morning, he jumps to his feet, pulling Rose up with him.

"Alons-y?" she suggests, her tongue poking out between her teeth as she smiles that smile he knows and loves so well.

"Alons-y!" he agrees, grinning at her manically before leading her through the TARDIS doors.

They step outside, and the Doctor's brow furrows. Something feels wrong here. He can sense it. He's not sure what it is, but something's definitely wrong.

He lets go of Rose's hand and bounds right back into the TARDIS, over to the console screen. He puts on his glasses and looks at it for a few moments, clicking here and tapping there until...

...Oh. _Oh._

His eyes widen. And he doesn't like what he sees. Well, _who_ he sees.

Then again, the Doctor sort of thinks that 'what' might actually be the most accurate word to use when describing the person that has just shocked him to his very core.

Surprised at the Doctor's movements, Rose examines the room around her. Nothing immediately shocks or worries her. It appears they have landed on some sort of futuristic spaceship, and as she looks out of the porthole in front of her she sees they are flying above a beautiful planet, all pink and yellow, with wispy purple stardust floating around it.

Nothing _seems_ wrong. But she knew – well, _half-_believed - that the Doctor had 'Superior Time Lord Senses' or whatever he likes to call them, so maybe her instinct was all wrong, and there was plenty of danger waiting for them just around the corner. She's not sure why that would worry him though; they love a bit of danger! She smiles to herself. _When did this get so normal? _she wonders, sighing happily.

The Doctor comes back out to stand next to her, following her gaze out of the glass and onto the world below.

"What's wrong?" Rose asks, noticing his worried expression, but having no clue why he is frozen to the spot.

The Doctor quickly turns to her and smiles brightly. "Nothing! Nothing, everything's fine and dandy!" he exclaims exaggeratedly, grinning at her widely before wandering over to look at some mechanical contraptions.

But Rose knows him too well now. And she knows when he's hiding something from her. She also knows that she'll have to work hard to get him to tell her what it is, though.

"Looks like an Anticombora spaceship, from the year 8293," he mutters, "But it doesn't seem to be moving. Bad bit of parking, though, over the top of planet Ursula..."

The planet Ursula, however pretty it looked from above, was not a great place to visit. The Doctor shivers. He knows from experience. No, they won't be going there. _Ever._

"Anticombora? What's that then, an alien race?" Rose asks, flicking a switch that she presumes will be a light, so that she can see him clearly. She is a little bit delighted to see he's wearing his sexy glasses again.

"No, it's actually a name of a shop. On Earth. Like a future Ikea, that specialises in spaceships," he explains distractedly.

"Funny name for a shop," comments Rose.

"So is Ikea," he says, with a smile appearing more genuine now, his anxiety _apparently_ dissipated.

But that doesn't fool Rose.

"So...why the sudden panic when we arrived then? Is Anticombora known for its shoddy workmanship or something?" she asks lightly, crouching down and examining a crack on the floor.

"No, it's actually got a great reputation. Which makes a change for Earth."

"So...?" she prompts, realising he's not going to elaborate further.

"So what?"

"Why did you look all shifty just now? Do you want us to leave?" she asks, peering up to look at him, an eyebrow raised in a manner suspiciously mirroring the Doctor's own expression as he looks back at her in surprise.

"It's...nothing. Nothing. Everything's fine!" he lies, wishing she would just drop it. How did she know him this well? Surely he hadn't lost his enigmatic, pokerfaced pretence, had he? He once fooled the Archduke of LohostoNin into selling him his Holy Donkey! He once pretended to be the King of Sertioa so that he could get into the Polooin Ball! He _even _walked into the gardens of Saint Hermione like he owned the place, insisting to the gullible guard that he was the Divine-ness herself!

Oh, but Rose - brilliant, clever, _beautiful - _Rose...she could see right through his lies. Which didn't bode well. Not for when she would inevitably find out about..._him._

The Doctor shudders again. How could it be? How could _he _be here? Must be from before they first met him. Must be. But what if it wasn't? What if he came here after what had happened? Oh, but he couldn't have. He can't travel to the year 8293 on his own. But what if he did? Who knows what he's been doing since they last saw him. Who knows what he will think when he sees them again after all this time. He would tell Rose the truth, and she would hate the Doctor for keeping it from her.

_Rassilon, this is a mess, _he thinks_._ But then, Rose couldn't hate him forever, could she? Maybe she could.

He glances down at her, slightly uncertain.

_Nah, course not. She loves me,_ he insists to himself_._

Rose and the Doctor. The Doctor and Rose. Just as it's (almost) always been, just how it (almost) always will be. He momentarily forgets his worries about _his _return, and concentrates instead on how Rose's mouth is making that funny little quirky shape it always does when she's half-amused, half-annoyed. He finds it rather endearing.

"Yeah. Ok. I'm not buying it, Doctor," she declares, getting to her feet and folding her arms across her chest in an attempt to look stern.

He smiles. To the Doctor, she just looks quite sexy. Which is very distracting. He thinks he should speak right now, actually; he's been staring at her a bit too long, and a bit too inappropriately at that.

"Why not? It's the truth," he replies, after turning around so as not to lie directly to her face. "But I think maybe it's time I showed you the Great Electroaisk Rebellion of 3499 – fantastic, no, truly _brilliant _pancakes thrown about in that particular civil war...not sure why, actually. It seemed to be an excellent weapon to them, anyway. But it'll be really good fun to watch. You know, despite the fact that a lot of Moasks got slightly injured – blinded by lemon and syrup, no doubt - no one died. And everyone decided it was best to just forget about their disagreements and problems and dance the night away instead, hence why the Moas - "

"Doctor!" Rose interrupts, shrieking slightly, before he can ramble on any further in his hopeless attempt to distract her. He should know by now that she will always keep focused when she wants to know something. He can never distract her. Well, unless he does that thing with his –

_No. Rose,_ she says to herself internally, _concentrate._

"Huh? What's wrong?" he says, spinning around and rushing to her side instantly and grabbing her hand in his instinctively.

She physically shakes her head to get the images that _he_ _didn't even put_ in her head this time out of her mind. She's supposed to keep _focused._..

"I dunno. You tell me. You're the one acting all...weird," she says, her hand gesturing to him vaguely.

"Weird? I'm acting no differently from normal."

"Well, yeah, I know. You're always acting weird," she replies, smirking at his sudden indignant pout, "But...you never want to leave somewhere that's giving off erm...bad vibes. Even when we landed on Krop Tor- " she pauses, noticing him flinch at her words. She clears her throat. "Well, anyway, you always want to solve the mystery, explore the planet, spaceship or whatever."

"I just..." Oh, how could he put this? He can't tell her the truth, or she will laugh at him, look at him quizzically – as if he's lost his mind - then realise he's serious, then...hit him. Very hard. And possibly verbally abuse him for days. He knows that's what her reaction will be. Which would mean an unhappy Rose, an unhappy Doctor, and an extremely _frustrated_ couple of time-travellers.

"Yeah?" she prompts gently, resting her hand at his elbow.

_Oh, that makes it worse_, he thinks. She's being insistent, but calm. Gentle. And he is going to have to lie to her, despite her eyes – her lovely big, brown eyes - pleading with him to trust her with whatever is worrying him.

This is not good.

"Erm..." he flounders, tugging his ear nervously.

"What is it, Doctor?" She squeezes his arm lightly, trying to get his attention back to her when he averts his eyes.

He looks at her. She looks back at him.

He decides he can't lie to her anymore. She will hate him for what he's going to say, though. _Oh, _how she'll hate him. But he knew this day would come around at some point. Time has that funny habit of creeping up on someone like him. Time, and that lovely little thing: fate. Oh, and irony. Irony practically follows him everywhere. He thought that perhaps he could simply _stay away _from the man, but _oh no, _the universe just _has _to let them bump into him on an Anticombora spaceship above the planet _Ursula._ Bloody typical.

He shouldn't have avoided this. Really, he should have told her straight away, as soon as it happened. He was just too much of a coward to tell her before.

Like he's too much of a coward to say all the other unspoken things he knows he should tell her.

"Rose..." he begins.

**A/N: Woah, woah, WOAH...is this a PLOT I'm detecting in my story? That hardly ever happens; I mostly feel perfectly content just writing lovely fluffy romantic moments...lol :P**

**Ooh, anyone watch Vampires in Venice? (haha, what a silly question, of course you did :D) I think it may have restored my complete and utter LOVE for the show (after *ahem* River etc etc...) Great episode in my eyes, though the whole space fish thing was a bit of an anti-climax...**

**Anyways, hope you liked the update :D**

**Much love, Laura xxx**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Hello my dear ten/Rose lovers! Just like to say another BIG thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! Look how many reviews there are now...WOWZA! **

**(by the way, I've never, ever felt the need to say 'wowza' before, so feel very privileged to witness that, it's surely the sign of an ****ü****ber-happy fanfiction writer!)**

**You are all more precious to me than bananas are to the Doctor. Which is saying something. You know it is. Be happy :D Oh my, on a side note, why the hell hasn't Eleven mentioned bananas yet? There I was thinking that that particular fruit was gonna be a constant love for him...instead he like FISHFINGERS IN CUSTARD? I mean, what the...*shakes head in disbelief* Moffat's let me down. AGAIN. *ignoring fact that Steven Moffat started the whole Doctor-Bananas thing in the first place...***

**Ooh look, sorry, I rambled again. You probably ignored this and went straight for the actual story anyway, and quite right too. I'll shut up now.**

**Mucho amor to you all x**

**............................................................................................................................................**

**Chapter 19**

"_Rose..." he begins._

"Yeah? I'm listening, Doctor," she murmurs softly, sensing there's something greatly troubling him.

"Well, the thing is, I sort of lied to you about something, and I know that I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry, but I was just trying to protect you, and I didn't want you to feel bad, and so I pretended it didn't happen, and I pretended that he had - "

He pauses his babbling when the ship starts beeping and some lights start flashing wildly.

"Doctor? What's happening?" Rose asks, with her panic taking over her confusion and desperation to know what the hell the Doctor had been going on about just then. They could finish that conversation later.

"I have absolutely no idea, but -" he stops talking again, noticing two rather burly men entering the room, "Ah. But they might," he resumes, nodding towards them.

Rose turns and flashes the men a wide smile. "Hi, I'm Rose. Just a quick question: what's going on?"

"As if you don't know!" one of the men scoffs.

"Sorry. We really, really don't. I'm the Doctor, by the way!" adds in the Doctor.

"Yes. We know who you are. Come with us," orders the other man, slightly taller and wider than the first.

Rose leans her head towards the Doctor. "Ok, one, how do they know you, and two, we should go with them; they look like they could break you in two," she whispers, eying the men warily.

"Ok, one, I dunno, and two, yes. But only because I want to find out what's going on here. They most certainly could _not _break me in two," he replies to her swiftly, ignoring Rose's disbelieving smirk, whilst extending a hand out to greet the two men properly. "Of course we'll come with you. But who are you exactly?" he asks, directing the question to them, before retracting his hand awkwardly when they made no move to shake it.

"Come with us," the man repeats.

"Yes. But who are you?" the Doctor asks again.

"No one," says the one on the right.

"No one?" echoes the Doctor.

"No one," repeats the one on the left.

"Don't be silly, how can you be no one?" Rose intones.

"We. Are. No one. Are you dumb in the head or something, sugar?" says a third man sarcastically, appearing in the doorway for the first time. He's slightly older the others, and Rose reckons he's the guy in charge around here. The way he walks, talks, the clothes he wears; all give hints to show he's the boss. It's funny actually. He reminds Rose of someone.

"Oi!" says the Doctor and Rose at the same time. The Doctor follows this up with, "I'm the only man allowed to insult Rose's intelligence." He throws her a wink and she turns her head, mock-scowling at him.

"Hey, I didn't mean any offence! Look, I know my two men here seem to be giving you a hard time. I'm sure you wouldn't want to follow someone's orders before you even know who they are. But I can assure you; what they are saying is correct. We are no one. We don't exist. Not..." the third man pauses his explanation, swallowing thickly, "Not anymore."

Rose's harsh look softens as she listens to the man. She can tell there's a sad story here. Maybe to do with the spaceship being at a standstill? Had someone died? She walks forward a few steps.

"So, um, are you in charge here?" she asks politely.

"Why, sweetheart? Do you like watcha see?" he replies, his demeanour changing abruptly from melancholy to downright _seductive _as his eyes rove up and down her body. "Cos I do..." He reaches one hand out to stroke her cheek lightly, twirling a strand of her blonde hair between his fingers. His other hand comes to rest on her hip.

Rose promptly removes both of his offending hands off of her body. She's aware that her mouth has quite possibly hit the floor in shock. She's also aware that she's blushing profusely. But what she is most aware of is the Doctor's arm sliding around her waist tightly. Protectively.

_Possessively._

She clears her throat to speak before the Doctor starts shouting at the man.

"Well..." she begins, just as the Doctor opens his mouth to speak too.

_Ah. Too late. Here he goes._

"Right, I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," the Doctor snaps at the man, "What's going on around here? Who are you? What are you? What do you mean 'not anymore?' Why is this ship parked over Ursula, of all the planets? And _what _is with Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum looking at me like that?" he finishes, glancing back and forth between the two men gazing at him almost...longingly. No, no, that's not it. _Hungrily..._He takes a step backwards, taking Rose with him.

"Oh, I see what we have here. Good cop, bad cop, right? The nice, pretty blonde and her dark, jealous boyfriend, eh? Roaming around where they aren't supposed to be. You ask us who we are, but who the hell are _you? _You're the one trespassing on my ship! Why are you even here?" the man in the middle sneers back at him.

Rose actually bursts out laughing at the mention of 'boyfriend.' She looks at the Doctor, expecting him to flinch uncomfortably at the man's words.

Instead, he just smiles softly, taking her completely by surprise.

"Hmmm. Yeah, I guess we are trespassing. Sorry. We do that a lot. As for who we are? Oh, it's very, very complicated, much, much more than what you've surmised, but you've got the general idea. Why are we here? Erm, just for fun really. You know, tap the old 'random' button, see where we end up, pop in to save the day here and there, back to the TARDIS – that's _my _ship, by the way – for some tea and biscuits and...well. You know. Et cetera," the Doctor says, and waggles his eyebrows suggestively. Rose thinks she's going to have a fit from trying to hold in her laughter and embarrassment both at the same time. She knows he's doing this on purpose. To show this guy _exactly _what's what. Who she belongs to. Before she can stop herself, a giggle escapes her, and the Doctor's eyes flicker to meet hers for a moment. She bites her lip as he narrows his eyes at her. Then, he turns back to the man, before he can get distracted. "So there you are. Those are my answers. What are yours?"

Rose, after listening to the Doctor's monologue with a strange sense of fascination, notices that the lights are back to normal and the bleeping sound has ceased. _False alarm then_, she thinks, thoroughly amused by the whole situation.

The Doctor waits patiently for a response from any of the three men. Tweedle-Dee stares blankly ahead, before stepping forward briskly. Tweedle-Dum does the same. Simultaneously, they grab the Doctor and Rose in their respective clutches, and no amount of wriggling on the time-travellers parts can free them from the men's grasps. These men are _strong._

"Let me go!" shouts Rose, struggling to pull herself free.

"Aw, what are you doing this for?" whines the Doctor, "I was going to forgive you for chatting up Rose and everything! I told you all about us. Why can't we just be civilised, hmmm? Civilised, reasonable men, who answer each other's questions politely and don't try and - "

He is cut off with a punch in the face from the rude guy in charge.

"Doctor!" Rose shrieks.

"Don't worry about him, Blondie. Got him out the way now, eh? I'm still here," he declares suggestively. His grin falters when she shoots him a death glare. "Come on. Let's take them to the holding cells," he instructs to the other men, leading them out of the room and down corridor after corridor.

"Doctor?" she calls out again, worrying. She knows he's been knocked out by the force of the man's punch, and Rose lets all her anger out in a damning voice, addressing any one of them who would listen. "Oh, you've done it now! What's going on here? You trust us, I know you do; I could see it in your eyes when the Doctor was talking to you. I could see it in your eyes _before _he started talking to you. You know who he is! You know he can help you, whatever weird stuff is going on here!"

The man leading them stops abruptly and turns to look at her carefully.

"And don't you dare think about punching me in the face, or else you'll be in real trouble with my Designated Driver when he wakes up!" she adds in nervously, not liking the look in the man's eyes one bit.

The man in front of her just laughs. A rather maniacal laugh at that.

"Designated _Driver_?" he repeats, chuckling, "Bit too much information honey, don't you think?" He winks at her, and Rose groans.

"You know what I meant. Don't get all...innuendo-y with me! You remind me of..."

"Who?" the man asks, suddenly all interested in what she has to say.

"Nothing. No one. Gone now," she murmurs with a small sigh.

"Okaaay Blondie...listen, you're right. I know who the Doctor is. And I know who you are, Rose Tyler. Your reputations – and rather dashing appearances, I must say – precede you," he tells her warmly, and Rose thinks that maybe the man in front of her, whoever he is, _can _be sincere.

"Quite. How?" She's still confused as to _how _he knows them.

"Oh gorgeous, isn't that The Question. How, for instance, do you know that there is 'weird stuff going on here?'"

She sighs. "Look, do we have to do this like...this? Tweedle-Dee here is really starting to hurt my arms. Can we go somewhere else? We don't have to be your prisoners before we can help you, you know."

"Oh but you do," he replies, and starts walking again, motioning for the other two men to follow. He hears Rose groan in annoyance and suppresses another laugh. He's finding this all very amusing.

And he's delighted that he managed to knock out a Time Lord.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

He leads them into the depths of the spaceship; on and on for what feels like hours. And Rose groans once more as she finally sees their destination.

A nice, dark _prison cell._ Equipped with metal railings and (no) bed and (no) blankets and all of nothingness.

_Joy of joys, _she thinks sarcastically.

"So? How did you know something's odd around here?" the man asks again, as Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum throw Rose and the Doctor into the cell with a violent shove. Rose is sure she's bruised almost every inch of her backside on the impact, but grits her teeth to keep from shouting out in pain, and reaches for the still-unconscious Doctor, pulling his head into her lap. She strokes his sideburns absently for a few moments, willing him to wake up.

After a few minutes, she looks up to see their captor still standing in front of her. She sighs loudly and resigns herself to answering his question.

"The Doctor thought something was wrong. I dunno what it was, but something was bothering him. He wouldn't tell me..." she trails off, remembering how he _almost_ told her...no, _confessed _to her...something that he'd lied about before.

_What could that be? _

Sometimes, she thinks she knows so much about the Doctor. Other times...she knows she's just kidding herself. He has so many secrets. So many things he can't bring himself to tell her. But _lie _to her? She can't think what it could be. He's terrible at lying. Well, to her, anyway.

_Which is why when he wants to keep something from her_, she muses, _he usually doesn't say anything at all._

"He said he can be very secretive. Frustratingly so," murmurs the man, chuckling lightly to himself as he locks the cell firmly, sliding metal rods across.

This snaps Rose out of her daydream.

"What? Who? Who said? Who said that?" she asks him, desperation seeping into her voice.

The man seems to doubt himself then. He flinches, and his eyes glaze over slightly, as if realising he's made a mistake somewhere with that last sentence.

"No one," he says at last.

"Oh, bloody hell, don't start that again. It must be someone. _You _must be someone!"

"No. Like I said: not anymore."

"Then who _were _you?"

"You wouldn't recognise the name."

"No. But it doesn't mean I don't want to know what it was. Everyone has or has had a name. Even him," she says pointing at the Time Lord in her lap. "I don't know what you're going through, physically or mentally, or whatever, but despite you throwing us in here like we're some sort of _criminals..." _she pauses, making a show of being scandalised but thought. He chuckles quietly. "...I think you might be one of the Good Guys here. I expect we're on the same side. I can help. We can help."

The man smiles at her through the cell bars. "You...you're quite lovely."

Rose is taken aback by that. "Well..." she falters. Then, summoning a load of self-confidence, hoping to get him to talk, she replies, "Well yeah. Goes without saying."

She smiles warmly at him when he laughs heartily at her declaration. "I'm quite a good listener, you know. Have to be, with this one," she says, pointing at the Doctor again. She looks up again at the mysterious man standing before her. "Talk to me. Tell me what's happening to you. Please?"

"You're different from other girls, aren't you, Blondie? He's lucky to know you. You're special. I like you," he murmurs.

"Thanks. I...I think I liked you too. Before. I like you a lot less now I know you're rude, insensitive, and quite happy to use violence to get your point across."

"Oh, I'm sorry a punched your, erm, _Designated Driver_," he says, smirking lightly, "He just wouldn't _shut up!_"

"Yeah. I know. He's like that a lot," Rose replies, smiling softly. _And I wouldn't have it any other way, _she thinks.

"How do you cope? I bet you don't punch him in the face each time he goes off on a ramble. You're too nice for that," he tells her, leaning his forehead against the bars, still looking at her intently.

Rose laughs. "Nah, I have my own, very personal, ways of shutting him up. Really quite effective." she replies teasingly.

"Oh, I would _love_ to see that. Seriously. I would pay money to see that. I bet it would be really effective in making me want to kiss you even more than I already do. Maybe him too. You know, we could always skip all this mutual questioning and go straight for the - "

"Yeah, enough," Rose interrupts hastily, her eyes widening, "Think I know where you're going with that. Too much information. God, you do sound like...a friend I once knew."

"Yeah?"

"Mmm."

"So honey, are _we_ going to be friends?" he asks, his eyes imploring hers. Rose briefly thinks he sounds a little insecure, then brushes away that thought when she sees him wiggle his eyebrows at her. He even licks his lips. _God, he has an ego even bigger than the Doctor's. Which is saying something, _she thinks.

"That depends," she replies finally, after appearing to consider his request for a few moments.

"Oh? On what?" he asks, his tone light and teasing. And hopeful.

"On whether you're going to let me and the Doctor out of this dank pit of a cell, tell me who you really are and what's going on here, and never, ever make any sexual advances on me again. Ever."

"Oh. Well, numero uno, I can't let you out. Sorry. I'm under strict orders to keep you...contained."

"What? _Contained?_ That's ridiculous. Anyway, I thought _you_ were in charge here?"

"Well, I'm not. You only assumed that, Blondie. Anyway, nombre deux, I don't really want to, especially because of your last request. Speaking of numer drie – how in the name of the Suns of Preisiusa do expect me to keep to _that _condition with you looking so gorgeous and being all clever and nice and - "

"Right, well, can you at least, _try _not to make a move on me. Please. Try and resist the temptation," she practically begs, still confused as to why he seems to like her so much. She's nothing special. She knows that a small part of her feels flattered by him; he's certainly a charmer, and he is _very _attractive. But that's only around 3% of her. Which is human nature. Well, the nature of all females. Well, that's nature of _everyone, _the desire to feel attractive.But the other 97% of her recoils at the thought of having someone other than the Doctor even look at her like that, let alone touch her. She realises that this is it for her now. She could never love another man. Hardly ever before the Doctor, certainly not whilst with him, and never ever after he's left her.

"I see you two couldn't resist any longer," he retorts, giving a triumphant grin as her face forms an expression imitating shell-shock rather well.

"What did you just say?" she asks in disbelief.

"Oh, I know so much about you two. For so, so long you were both _this _close to giving in, but always had to pull away at the last moment; all the time, trying to ignore the electricity, the tension, trying to resist the urge to be together. But now...oh, it's obvious. You've jumped that ship, crossed that line, broken down those walls, haven't you? Sure, everyone could see it before, the way you both felt, simply by the way he looked at you. When he wore a different face. Or so I've heard," he tells her calmly, shrugging his shoulders to show his indifference to the tale.

"How...what? How? How do you know all of this?"

He ignores her question and continues. "But now...god, it's even more intense than I imagined it would be. It's like...oh, I don't even know. I'm one of the greatest romancers of my time, I assure you of that, but I've never seen nor experienced anything like what you two have; what you two mean to each other. It's quite unnerving."

"Are you...can you read my mind or something? 'Cos where on Earth are you getting this information from?"

"Oh, nowhere on Earth, Blondie," he says, smiling softly, "So, you admit it then."

"Admit what?"

"You asked if I was reading your mind. I'm not. But you asking that obviously means all my observations are correct. If you were thinking all of that..." he smirks cheekily, "...you admit that you're together?"

"You said that it's obvious."

"Yeah. It is. It's really quite sickening. You're all over each other," he mocks.

"We are not!"

"Well, maybe not physically. Well, not when anyone's looking, anyway. Oh I saw it...the sneaky groping..." he teases, winking at her as she blushes once again, "But your eyes follow him wherever he goes, and his do the same to you. Even when he was having a go at me, his eyes weren't really looking at me; he was looking to his side, to _you _by his side. Just like usual. Except this time, it's not with a look of longing for what he can't have. Oh no. No, it's with a look of longing for what he is definitely going to get once all this adventure stuff is over. When you're back in your little blue box..."

"Ok, you can stop now," Rose announces, her voice shaking a little. She's a bit embarrassed, a bit nervous, but most of all she's_ confused. _She only met this man a little while ago. She's never seen him before in her life. How did he know so much about them?

"You're confused. I can tell. You're doing that cute thing with your eyebrows knitting together whilst you bite your lip. It's damn attractive," he states lightly.

"You're bloody right I'm confused! What's going on here? How can you possibly know what me and him were like before? We've only just met! Who has been telling you this stuff?" exasperates Rose.

The man just smiles.

"Tell me _how_!" she orders loudly. _Why won't the Doctor just wake up and help..._she thinks.

"I can't," he murmurs, and he almost sounds regretful.

"Why?"

"It's...complicated."

"Complicated. Well, you know, I can do complicated. I'm not as stupid as you obviously think I am."

"Oh, I don't doubt that you are in fact very clever. For a blonde, anyway. But I still can't tell you."

"Right," says Rose, feeling dejected.

"I'm sorry," he says, and Rose thinks he may mean it this time.

"At least tell me this: what was your name?" she asks tentatively.

He sighs. "You never give up, do you?"

"No," she replies simply.

"Hart. John Hart," he whispers, almost inaudibly.

And with that, he turns and leaves.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Hellooo everyone :D Sorry there's been a bit of a gap between updates this time :S But, seeing as I've made you wait a few weeks for this, I thought I'd make it a bit of a longer chapter. I hope you enjoy! Please review and let me know :D Love ya xxx**

**Chapter 21**

After about an hour, the Doctor's eyes finally flutter open.

"Wh...what the...?" he mumbles, feeling incredibly disorientated for a split second before realising his head is in Rose's lap, so everything must be rather fine.

She looks down at him, her eyes wide and bright now that he's conscious, and relief is flooding through her. "I thought you were never gonna wake up," she whispers softly. "You've never been knocked out like _that _before. My legs of gone numb sitting like this for so long," she adds, chuckling lightly.

"Sorry - " he begins, moving to sit up, but Rose shakes her head and pushes him back down. She quite likes him lying there, her taking care of him like this.

And really, he's quite comfortable, looking up at her from this position, so he lets her keep him there. " – So. Where are we? Did you find out anything about out captors?" he asks brightly, absently fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt with one hand.

"Well, I don't know what the ship is, or why they've stopped, or why we've been thrown in the prison cells..." she tells him, biting her lip.

"Ah. Well, that's useful," he replies, and she gives him a stern look.

"He's very secretive, ok? He wouldn't reveal anything. _However, _I know that someone we know has been talking to him, because he was saying all sorts of stuff about us..."

"What sort of stuff?" he asks warily, feeling terribly guilty he still hasn't told her about _him._

"Oh, erm...just...stuff," she mutters, blushing. "About us, before we...you know. Et cetera..."

"Right," he says, nodding quickly.

"And he told me his name's John Hart. You recognise the name?"

"No...um...nope, not a clue."

"So?"

"So what?"

"So, who do you reckon has been telling him all that stuff about us?"

The Doctor swallows nervously. It's time to tell her. "Rose. There's something I've been meaning to tell you. About this place. And who's...here."

"Oh?" she says, staring down at him in confusion.

"Yeah. Ok, first things first, how much do you remember about the Gamestation?"

"I...well. Only what you've told me. You know, how you kissed the Time Vortex out of me and that," she replies, an eyebrow raised and her lips upturned in a slight smirk.

"Quite. But do you remember anything about when you had all that power inside you? Do you remember what you did?"

"What, you mean, killing all the Daleks?"asks Rose, her brow furrowing.

"No, no. Other than that..." He sighs. "Rose, you didn't just...kill...that day. You brought someone back to life, too."

"What?" she whispers, shocked into almost-silence.

He sits up, shifting to hold her hands. "Someone who died, someone you cared about, Rose."

"Oh my go – _Jack? _You mean _Jack? _He died and I brought him back?" she cries in disbelief.

"Yeah. Except, you couldn't control it properly. You...you're so brilliantly compassionate and loving, truly the best of humanity, Rose. And you brought him back for good."

"_What?_"

"He can't die. You made him immortal. And I...out of extinct, I just ran away from him. He shouldn't exist and I was regenerating and I just...I took us away..."

"You just _left _him there? Didn't you think about how he would feel? How confused he would be? How much he'd need us? How much I'd need to say to him?" she exclaims accusingly, her voice rising.

"I'm sorry. I am so sorry."

"And you kept this from me, all this time. I made him immortal, and you didn't even...Oh god. Oh god, he's going to hate me," she says, realisation dawning.

"Why would he hate you? You brought him - " he begins.

"Are you _stupid?_ You said yourself how difficult it is, living for so long, watching the people you...care about 'wither and die' - I made him like that, and he'll hate me for it. Maybe not right away, but sooner or later, when he's lost _everyone, _he's going to hate me for making him like that...and we just _left _him there..." She bites her lip, staring hard at the wall, blinking back tears.

"I'm sorry..." begins the Doctor.

She turns her fiery gaze on him again. "It's not me you should be apologising to, is it? I think we both need to apologise to _him._"

"I know. I know, Rose." He gives her hands a quick squeeze, and is relieved when she doesn't pull them away.

She relaxes her angry stance a little, and lets out a long breath. They are both silent for five or so minutes. Maybe six. The Doctor doesn't really know what else to say. She must be really furious with him; she isn't meeting his eyes anymore. On the plus side, she hasn't removed his hands from hers yet, so maybe she isn't ready to jump up and leave him. Yet.

Then, to his surprise, she chuckles slightly, breaking the silence, before saying, "He's sooo gonna kill you."

He sighs in relief, glad to have her talking again. He missed hearing her voice just then. Wait. It was only for five minutes. Is he really that bad? So incapable of lasting very long without her talking to him?

"Probably," he murmurs. Whether it's an answer to her question of his he's not even sure. Perhaps both.

"I wonder whether your next regeneration will be better looking?"

He pokes her in her waist with one finger. "Oi! Don't say that."

"He is though. He's going to kill you. Right after he's given you a great big snog. He won't be able to resist you, now that you're all..." she pauses, meeting his eyes once more. "...Foxy. I guarantee it."

"Oh yeah? Thanks. And what about you?" he replies.

"Oh, he can't kill me. He loves me too much."

"Right. Great," he mutters sarcastically.

Then she remembers something. "Wait a sec. So...Jack. Is he _here?"_

"Yeah. TARDIS sensed it somehow. Somewhere on this ship, Jack Harkness is most probably flirting with some - "

" - Wait. John Hart said he was working for someone, that's why he'd been ordered to throw us in here. Do you think...do you think Jack's behind this?"

"Do _you _think he'd do this to us?" he asks her, genuinely curious to see what she thinks. Because honestly? He doesn't have a clue.

"No. We're his friends," she assures him, and herself, confidently. Then she adds thoughtfully, "Pretty bad ones, for just leaving like that, but you know."

"You said he's going to kill me."

"Yeah, I said that. But he won't. He couldn't. He loves you too, you know."

"That's nice to hear."

"Mmm."

"But who could it be then? He's obviously friends with this John fellow, close enough to share all his memories of us with. So what the hell is going on here?" asks the Doctor.

"I don't know. But I do know that Jack wouldn't hurt us, not really. What do you reckon he's been doing since we left him on the Gamestation?"

"What _hasn't_ he been doing would be a more appropriate question relating to Jack Harkness, don't you think?"

"Well that's a bit rude," comes a voice from beyond the door to the cell. Then the man behind the voice, John Hart, steps up and unlocks the door.

"You come to set us free, then?" asks Rose hopefully.

"No, sorry Blondie. I just thought I'd come see how you two are doing. Well. Not him, so much. Just you, honey."

The Doctor, already scowling at John, watches him reach down and stroke Rose's cheek. He stands up abruptly, wincing slightly at the pain in his head, and squares up to John. "She's fine. She'd be better if you stopped touching her and let us out of here."

"Ooh, touchy. You're very possessive of her, aren't you?"

"Yes," answers the Doctor honestly.

"Why's that then?" inquires John.

The Doctor ignores his question. "What's going on here? Where's Jack?"

"You remember him, then?" John smirks.

"Of course we do," pipes up Rose, standing up too.

"I heard your little conversation. And you know what, you're right, sugar. Jack's here. But he's not the one...oh, I really shouldn't be telling you this, but...I like you. And you know, we're friends, right?" John says, reaching out and twirling a strand of her hair between his fingers. The Doctor tries not to contemplate the things he's contemplating right now, which involve that very large piece of metal over there and John Hart's head. But he can't help it.

However, to the Doctor's delight, Rose gently removes John's hand from her hair and puts her own hands on her hips, elbows out. He knows that this means she means business, and she isn't going to stand for John Hart being all...John Hart-like. Which, consequently, is similar to Captain Jack-like. Basically, the fact of the matter is, Rose is the Doctor's and she knows that. Which makes him very happy indeed. And that look on her face – utter determination – _that _is a bit lovely...

"Yes. Please, tell us what's going on here. We can help," she says, as the Doctor comes out of his quiet contemplation to listen to her speak.

"Exactly," puts in the Doctor, dispelling all his jealous thoughts. If this man needs their help, and if Rose trusts him, then he should too. "Who's in control here?"

John flinches. "You really don't want to know. But it isn't Jack. He just got a little caught up in a bit of a bad plan of mine, and now I've got him stuck here."

"Where was he before?" asks Rose.

"Oh, he was on Earth. Twentieth century earth. He's working with this little team...they have a base and everything. In a bit of a strange place, mind you. But anyway. A proper hero, he is," laughs John.

"What's it called? This team? What does he do?" asks the Doctor.

John averts his eyes. "Um...yeah, that's something I can't tell you about. Could cause a paradox or something, apparently. I don't really get half the stuff he comes out with, but he insists he learnt it all from the best..." he trails off, nodding a head in the Doctor's direction.

"Right. Yes, of course."

"And he was waiting for you to show up. Says he has some unfinished business."

Rose swallows nervously, and the Doctor nods his head once. "I can understand that," he replies.

"And then," John continues, "I showed up. Told him I had a lovely surprise for him."

"Was that the first time you met him?" asks Rose.

"Hell no. I knew him way back. Back when he was a Time Agent. Before he abandoned the Agency to go search for his memories or whatever – which is when you came in, I believe. Anyway, long story short, we were partners...in more ways than one. Well, sort of. We got stuck in a time loop for quite a while. Had to put up with him for ages, and you know what he's like," he says, winking. Rose smiles.

"So this 'lovely surprise' you had for him? What was that?" asks the Doctor.

John folds his arms in a defensive gesture. "Right, well, there's a small, maybe rather big, chance that I'm not proud of this, so don't judge me. But I...well, I was in a spot of bother with the Arcanians - "

" – Ahhhh," sighs the Doctor in realisation. Rose turns to look at him with a question in her eyes. "They're a race of intergalactic traders – traders in all sorts of things: energy, money, diamonds, pineapples – you name it. Very nice people, if you negotiate and make a fair deal. Very, very not-nice people if you rip them off," he explains to her. Then he turns back to John. "Which I'm guessing you did?"

"Hey, I said don't judge me! Jack used to be a con-man too, and you befriended him!"

"One, I'm not judging you, and two, he befriended Rose first; I was much more opposed to opposed to the idea of him coming on board."

"Yeah, but he grew to love him," Rose tells John, shooting a sideways glance to the Doctor that told him 'You know I'm right.'

John smiles. "Well, anyway. Yeah. I um...sort of tried to trade them my motor – a ExtX 480, you know..." he adds, for the Doctor's benefit. Judging by the way the Doctor's eyebrows rose in appreciation just then, Rose is guessing that that is one cool spaceship. "...for one of their Xops 8000's. _But..._well, there was this controversy over the fact that my ExtX 480 accidently didn't exist anymore, due to my not-friend-anymore blowing it up – Rita, her name was. Nice girl. Crap at mechanics. Evidently. Anyway..."

The Doctor leans towards Rose while John continues his story, and whispers, "Are you getting Déjà vu here?"

"God yeah. It's like he's him. No wonder they were...you know," she murmurs back.

"...what's that?" asks John, noticing his audience is now chattering amongst themselves.

Rose bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Just saying...you two must have been made for each other. You and Jack," she clarifies.

"Maybe once. He's changed now. A lot. Thanks to you two," he says, and Rose can't help but notice the tiny scowl he sends their way briefly.

"So...?" the Doctor prompts. "Why did you call on Jack?"

"I managed to escape from the, um...'trial' that the Arcanians were 'giving' me. Honestly, if you could call it a trial...Mind you, they'd have had me hung, drawn, quartered and fed to a Nestene Consciousness – if such a thing still existed - immediately if I hadn't pointed out that that would be wrong, according to Article 876 of their new deal with the Shadow Proclamation – you know, when they got into trouble with them a bit too often, and had to make a sign of peace or something to stop them going over the top in their punishments..." At this, the Doctor nods, acknowledging the information as fact.

John continues, "So, I escaped – very skilfully, I may add, and pressed something or other on this thing..." he pauses, holding up his wrist, where Rose can now see has a familiar-looking Vortex Manipulator attached to it, albeit a smaller one than Jack's. "...ended up on Earth. Yuck. That wasn't fun. Landed in a swamp on some distant continent. Travelled to some sort of civilisation, i.e. London. But, I didn't realise Jack was on Earth – I wasn't looking for him. But then, I accidently bumped into him, and thought 'aha! There's a man who can help me get out of a spot of bother!' Turns out, he's about as capable of laughing/flirting his way out of trouble amongst a group of Arcanians as me. And now, we are both trapped here, on their HQ sort of ship, awaiting our...um...well, our execution. I've been let out of my cell to sort you two out, but Jack..."John trails off, not able to meet their eyes any longer.

"What? Where's Jack?" asks the Doctor.

"He's got this...this _ability _now. I think it's what you were talking about in here earlier – I couldn't make out all the details, but from what I gather he's immortal, right? So, the Arcanians – Bob in particular - didn't take it very well when, after they shot him down dead, Jack simply gasped back to life and stood back up again."

Rose feels sick, knowing that she's responsible for him going through the pain of death over and over again, only to be brought back alive each time."And now?" prompts Rose.

"Now, they're experimenting on him. A lot. And it ain't pretty."

"_What _exactly are they doing?" asks the Doctor, though he has an idea.

"Ooh, think about the biggest electrical pulse you've ever seen run through a living person, and then times that by about 1000," states John unflinchingly. But Rose can tell, in his eyes, that he feels guilty for what's happening to his friend.

_Don't they all?_

"Ah," murmurs the Doctor. Then, his sombre look turns cheerful. "Well, where is he then? Let's go save him!" he cries enthusiastically.

His enthusiasm diminishes as soon as John silences him with a look of his own.

"We wouldn't be able to reach him. There are loads of guards down there – at the bottom of the ship."

The Doctor shakes his head. "We'll find a way," he assures him.

Rose nods in agreement. "And you can let us out right?" Rose asks John.

John looks torn. On one hand, he knows he should, because if anyone has a chance of saving both him and Jack it's the Doctor (or so he's heard.) But on the other hand, he's been ordered by the chief Arcanian to keep these 'intruders' locked up, and if he found out that he'd released them, he'd have no chance of survival.

"Um..." he begins.

"How about..." the Doctor starts thoughtfully, understanding John's dilemma at once. "...you go back to wherever you're supposed to be, and we'll escape this cell all by ourselves. That way, it's not your fault; it's the fault of whoever is supposed to be guarding us."

"And what about those people who _are_ guarding outside that door then, eh?" points out Rose.

"Weeeelll, as John goes out, he might accidently-on-purpose knock them out, so that it looks like we've done it..."

She tuts. "Doctor," Rose begins, in a mock-admonishing tone, "I thought you disapproved of violence."

"When you're up against the Arcanians, believe me, there's little else choice," pitches in John, to which the Doctor gives an acknowledging shrug. "Ok. I'll do it. But I can't exactly leave the cell door unlocked, or else they'll know that - "

" – it's alright. Lock the door. I've got my sonic screwdriver. As long as it's not a deadlock seal, I'll be able to get us out of here in a jiffy," interrupts the Doctor.

"A sonic...?"

"Screwdriver," supplies Rose.

"Riigghhht," John replies, looking between the two of them oddly for a moment. Then he regains his composure, salutes them, and makes his way out. "Good luck," he calls over his shoulder, and as he locks the cell door, he adds a genuine, "And thanks."

The Doctor and Rose stand and wait for a moment. After hearing a few punches being thrown and an 'Owww!' promptly followed by utter silence, they reckon that John has done his job.

The Doctor smiles his mischievous smile at Rose, and retrieves the sonic screwdriver from his pocket. He's about to unlock the door, when he pauses contemplatively. "You want to do the honours?" he asks Rose, holding it out to her. She looks at him for a moment, a quizzical frown on her face, but then shrugs and takes it off of him.

She fiddles for a moment, adjusting the setting to the one she knows he usually uses in situations like these – setting number 12, to be precise – and points it at the lock. The Doctor watches, wondering whether she'll be able to do it. Maybe this wasn't the best time to be teaching Rose this stuff, not when they had their old friend to save, but you see, it suddenly occurred to him that she might need to know how to do this one day, if she's trapped with nothing but it and not him. Although, why she'd have it but not him is a bit of a hazy area. Although, if she had her _own_ one...

He's brought out of his musings when Rose yelps and jumps back after a spark hits her arm. She looks at him impishly, biting her lip in that delicious way she does. "Oops?" she offers. The Doctor smiles at her, and is about to retort, when he suddenly stares right past her, at the door that's gently swinging open.

"No...no, no, not 'oops,'" he replies, pointing at the door.

She turns around. "Ohhh," she says, giggling. "Cool."

And that's when he thinks about how lovely she is, and how her laugh is like music to his ears, and he thinks he might tell her the _other _thing he should have told her a long time ago, the very thing he's been planning on telling her for ages now.

He steps towards her and links their hands. "Rose Tyler - " he begins.

" – Alons-y!" she finishes, breaking into a sprint, and for once, it's her dragging _him _along.

As the two of them run, weaving their way through the corridors, trying to find some stairs or something to take them _down_ to where Jack supposedly is, the Doctor realises that with a life like theirs, there's bound to be a few distractions from saying things that need to be said.

But one day, he won't get interrupted, and she'll know what he knows she _wants_ to know.

Because he'll tell her.He just WWe


End file.
